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Jufrie
Mahmood
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Vantage
Singapore’s
great escape by Jufrie
Mahmood
Singapore
Democrats
27 Mar 08
It is exactly one month today
since Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from the Internal Security
Department (ISD) Whitley Road Detention Centre. While we await
the findings of the Government appointed "independent"
Committee of Inquiry.
I have not stopped wondering how
the escape could have taken place. It is next to impossible for
any detainee at the centre to escape. And I am saying this from
personal experience.
I was detained under the Internal
Security Act (ISA) sometime in 1979 for an offence I did not
commit. I was then a translator attached to the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID). Prior to my transfer to the CID
I was serving in the same post in the ISD. I was unceremoniously
transferred to the CID after being accused of having
pro-opposition sentiments.
I had privately voiced out my
disagreement towards certain government policies which I felt
was discriminatory and against the spirit of multi-racialism. I
was only being honest about my disgust for such policies. I was,
of course, found not suitable for the ISD and thus transferred
to the CID.
Not long after working in the CID, I was
arrested and detained without trial. The authorities said that
they had "found" some anti-government petition
circulated to many organizations. The petition, I was told, was
some sort of protest against the detention of a group of
university students and had contained information about the ISD.
The Government's immediate response was to arrest me.
They thought I was responsible for drafting and circulating the
petition. Actually the petition was drafted and circulated by a
colleague, a fellow translator in the CID, who got so worked up
over the detention of some of his friends, many of whom were
university undergraduates.
Among those rounded up was
Mr. Ahmad Khalis Abdul Ghani, an ex PAP MP who stepped down
during the last GE. The ISD found out after I was already
detained that the author of the petition was indeed my
colleague, now deceased, and that I was not aware of its
existence because it was drafted and circulated while I was on
leave and absent from the office.
Nevertheless, I was
charged under the Official Secrets Act for revealing ISD
operational methods to the my colleague and sentenced to nine
months imprisonment. After some two months in Whitley Road
Detention Centre I was moved to Queenstown Remand Prison. I was
released after six months for good conduct.
So as I had
said, I am giving a first-hand account about the tight security
at the detention centre. All movements in the centre are closely
monitored. When a detainee needs to move from one station to
another within the compound for further interrogation or for
other purposes, he is physically escorted. The gurkha guards
will hold the detainee’s hands tightly while moving from
one station to another. When he goes for a toilet break the
guards would stand guard outside the toilet entrance. And since
toilets are not situated near or abutting the perimeter
wall/fencing, escape is practically impossible.
That
being the case I can think of three possible reasons that could
have led to the escape – that is, assuming the escape
really took place:
1. Some party or parties were in
cahoots with, and assisted, Mas Selamat in staging his escape.
If this is the case there seems to be a breakdown in the system
of screening security personnel. This is indeed a very serious
development.
2. For reasons only known to the powers
that be Mas Selamat was deliberately let loose.
3. Mas
Selamat has magical powers which he may have acquired through
long hours of meditation during his solitary confinement.
In
the meantime the Minister-in-Charge Mr Wong Kan Seng should take
full responsibility for this embarrassing episode. I do not
detect any signs of regret in his demeanour when making public
statements concerning the case. He appears to be as cocky as
ever.
Ministers who are quick to claim credit for
Singapore’s achievements must also be as quick in taking
the blame for any shortcoming. The economic costs resulting from
the delays and traffic jams at the causeway will easily run into
tens of millions of dollars.
Thus far the response by our
security officials have been less than assuring and lacks
professionalism. If the government is to be believed, Mas
Selamat is a very dangerous individual. He is not a petty thief.
But the immediate response to his escape smacks of a tidak apa
(the devil may care) attitude.
If I remember correctly
it took the authorities four hours before they decided to inform
and engage the public, one whole week before telling the public
what clothes Mas Selamat was wearing and another few days to
release information that his limp would only be obvious when he
runs.
I wonder at what point of time was the Home
Affairs Minister informed of the "escape", and having
been informed, what his first reaction was and what directions
he gave to his officers. This is very important because
Singaporeans need to know the true quality of their leaders
which is only evident in times of crises. After all, we citizens
have been forced to accept the argument that our ministers are
world class and should be paid handsomely.
I would like
to suggest that the Minister for Home Affairs volunteers to have
his pay cut by $1,000 for every day that Mas Selamat is not
caught. And since the cabinet claims to take collective
responsibility, other cabinet ministers can join him and have
their pay cut as well.
The longer Mas Selamat remains
free, the more money will be accumulated which can then be used
to help the poor. This can also serve to mitigate PAP policies
where the Poor Also Pay. Yes that has always been the PAP
philosophy - the Poor Also Pay.
Coming back to Mas
Selamat, if he is rearrested the Government should put him on
trial. Let the world hear his side of the story. Let him defend
himself in court. If after due process of law the evidence shows
that indeed he is guilty, then let the law take its course.
In
my opinion it is not that simple to seize a plane, pilot it over
a distance and crash it into a building. According to
information supplied by the authorities Mas Selamat is only a
trained mechanic. Since when can a mechanic, acting alone, pilot
a plane without first undergoing any formal or informal
training. If the authorities have information on Mas Selamat’s
flight training lessons, they have not told the public. We only
keep hearing the mantra that “Mas Selamat tried to crash a
plane into Changi Airport”. The people who crashed the
planes into the world trade centre on 9/11 underwent months of
training to learn to fly the planes.
Let Singaporeans
hear the truth - on how he managed to do the impossible of
escaping from the Whitley Detention Centre, the whole truth -
including how he was going to fly a plane to crash into Changi
Airport, and nothing but the truth - from the man himself and
not some Committee of Inquiry.
Mr
Jufrie was an opposition candidate in the 1988, 1991 and 1997
general elections.
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