Recent terror attacks linked to the Islamic State - including the grenade blast at a bar near Kuala Lumpur last week - come as no surprise, Singaporean Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said on Monday.

Malaysian police confirmed Monday that the grenade blast at the Movida nightspot in Puchong, which injured eight people, was the first successful ISIS attack on Malaysian soil.

Speaking during a visit to Geylang Serai's Hari Raya Bazaar, Shanmugam noted that radicalism is growing in the region. "We know that more than a thousand people have gone from this region to fight in the Middle East and some of them are capable of planning attacks through proxies in the region," he said.

The minister noted that the recent atrocities, including those in Istanbul and Dhaka, took place during the fasting month of Ramadhan.

"That they should choose to attack even during this month shows the level of evilness," he added. "What we can do is to prepare ourselves, which we have been doing."