Only in Singapore…
… Can a dangerous terrorist escape from prison and a government not be held accountable for it.
Up till today, some two weeks after Mas Selamat’s great escape from Whitley Detention Centre, home of the ISA, the government’s official stance on how he escaped is: We don’t know.
Information that could very well aided in his speedy capture trickled agonisingly slowly from police only days after his escape. First they told us he has a limp. After a few days, his limp becomes one that is visible only when he walks fast. The police also deemed it necessary to let us know what he was wearing when he escaped only days after he could very well have gotten rid of the clothes, as the police themselves acknowledge.
Police incompetence aside, what more can we say of our government? A simple “sorry” from the Home Affairs Minister and he expects Singaporeans to be placated? Well, you better believe it. He even had the cheek to admonish us not to speculate on how Mas Selamat escaped but to concentrate on capturing him instead!
How are we going to do that if we had spent the crucial first few days after his escape looking for a man with a limp that didn’t exist, wearing clothes that we had no idea what they looked like.
Best of all, our meek media does not even dare us the question that everyone was asking – how he escaped – immediately after Mas Selamat disappeared like Houdini. Instead we had these grant reports on the country’s efforts to capture him. Cherian George, media expert of Singapore, puts the point across succinctly here.
Without the media, or anyone for that matter, questioning how all these oversights in the workings of our government and police force can happen, all these important points are not brought to public consciousness.
For one, do we deserve the reputation of good security in Singapore if something like this can happen. Are our leaders held accountable when something goes wrong, are they getting away too easily when things don’t go the way they normally do in this supposedly clean and efficient country.
People may argue that our leaders have got it down right most of the time and we should give them a break when once in while something goes wrong. Well, I would say that our leaders, having grown accustomed to being immune to public opinion and having grown complacent that everything goes well, failed to react decisively when Mas Selamat waltzed out of Whitley.
If giving out information freely and quickly had been the government’s way of doing things, we might have gotten privy to his escape and crucial clues that may have led to his capture. instead, the government predictably closed ranks, grew their hide thick enough to withstand all public opinion and proceeded to exclude the citizenry in the hunt for Mas Selamat, only giving details when it became clear the trail had gone cold.
So, when MM Lee spoke of the complacency that led to Selamat’s escape, he forgot to mention the complacency that came out after the escape as well.
Up till today, some two weeks after Mas Selamat’s great escape from Whitley Detention Centre, home of the ISA, the government’s official stance on how he escaped is: We don’t know.
Information that could very well aided in his speedy capture trickled agonisingly slowly from police only days after his escape. First they told us he has a limp. After a few days, his limp becomes one that is visible only when he walks fast. The police also deemed it necessary to let us know what he was wearing when he escaped only days after he could very well have gotten rid of the clothes, as the police themselves acknowledge.
Police incompetence aside, what more can we say of our government? A simple “sorry” from the Home Affairs Minister and he expects Singaporeans to be placated? Well, you better believe it. He even had the cheek to admonish us not to speculate on how Mas Selamat escaped but to concentrate on capturing him instead!
How are we going to do that if we had spent the crucial first few days after his escape looking for a man with a limp that didn’t exist, wearing clothes that we had no idea what they looked like.
Best of all, our meek media does not even dare us the question that everyone was asking – how he escaped – immediately after Mas Selamat disappeared like Houdini. Instead we had these grant reports on the country’s efforts to capture him. Cherian George, media expert of Singapore, puts the point across succinctly here.
Without the media, or anyone for that matter, questioning how all these oversights in the workings of our government and police force can happen, all these important points are not brought to public consciousness.
For one, do we deserve the reputation of good security in Singapore if something like this can happen. Are our leaders held accountable when something goes wrong, are they getting away too easily when things don’t go the way they normally do in this supposedly clean and efficient country.
People may argue that our leaders have got it down right most of the time and we should give them a break when once in while something goes wrong. Well, I would say that our leaders, having grown accustomed to being immune to public opinion and having grown complacent that everything goes well, failed to react decisively when Mas Selamat waltzed out of Whitley.
If giving out information freely and quickly had been the government’s way of doing things, we might have gotten privy to his escape and crucial clues that may have led to his capture. instead, the government predictably closed ranks, grew their hide thick enough to withstand all public opinion and proceeded to exclude the citizenry in the hunt for Mas Selamat, only giving details when it became clear the trail had gone cold.
So, when MM Lee spoke of the complacency that led to Selamat’s escape, he forgot to mention the complacency that came out after the escape as well.
posted by Eagle Eye at 3:31 PM
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