23 Jul 2008
Law Sin Ling
27th February 2008 marked the day where terrorist suspect Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from the renowned high-security Whitley Road Detention Centre operated by the dreaded Internal Security Department of Singapore.Following previous examples where bounties worth S$1,000 to S$50,000 were offered by separate private agencies for the capture of Mas Selamat, the ante went supernova when 2 anonymous businessmen recently offered a S$1million bounty to anyone who could supply vital information leading to the eventual capture of the man who had put plenty of heat under the collar of the Minister of Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng, and fuelled unflattering comments on the lack of professionalism of the entire Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under his charge since 1994.
The MHA emphasised that it had "assessed these persons and their proposal to be serious and credible and has agreed to their request". The judgement of the Ministry is highly suspect, especially after the highly controversial incident where it emerged that an "independent investigation" on the escape consisted to convene a Committee of Inquiry (COI) comprising an advisor to the President, a serving ambassador and former police chief, and the Deputy Secretary for Security at the MHA; all individuals with close relation to the government. The absurd contents of the report affirmed the cynicism.
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