Read the following article and write a 150 words reflection.
Use PROPER ENGLISH. No short forms please.
Please leave your REAL name and class after writing the reflection.
Marks wil be allocated for this reflection.
Mas Selamat, 45, and four other members of the terrorist organisation which has regional links and ties to Al-Qaeda, were served detention orders under the Internal Security Act between March and May 2006.
Tagged as Singapore's most wanted militant and linked to a sensational plot to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport, the JI leader of the Singapore network, was arrested on the Riau island of Bintan while on the run after fleeing the Republic in December 2001.
He was eventually deported to Singapore in February 2006 after serving time in two Indonesian jails for immigration offences.
Mas Selamat, a father of four, was involved in JI's plans to mount attacks against foreign and local establishments here, which included the US Embassy and American Club, the Defence Ministry headquarters at Bukit Gombak and the Education Ministry building at North Buona Vista Drive.
His role included directing Singapore JI members to undertake reconnaissance of these establishments and handing over reconnaissance material to JI operational leaders based in Malaysia.
After he fled Singapore, he continued to target the country - specifically plotting to hijack an aircraft to crash into Changi Airport.
The Government said that when his initial attempt was thwarted, he continued to believe in the feasibility of the plan and intended to pursue it in the future when the opportunity presented itself.
When he was finally captured in Malang, some 40 km south of Pasuruan on Jan 20 2006, after about five months on the run, Mas Selamat was found to be carrying false identification - an offence similar to previous charges that arose from his first arrest in February 2003.
That earlier arrest ended his 14-month run from the law, which began when he fled Singapore in December 2001 after the Republic's crackdown on terrorists had netted about a dozen of his JI comrades.
What he did, or whom he met, during his five-month freedom is still a mystery.
Extracted from: Straits Times Interactive, 27 Feb 2008
Use PROPER ENGLISH. No short forms please.
Please leave your REAL name and class after writing the reflection.
Marks wil be allocated for this reflection.
Mas Selamat, 45, and four other members of the terrorist organisation which has regional links and ties to Al-Qaeda, were served detention orders under the Internal Security Act between March and May 2006.
Tagged as Singapore's most wanted militant and linked to a sensational plot to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport, the JI leader of the Singapore network, was arrested on the Riau island of Bintan while on the run after fleeing the Republic in December 2001.
He was eventually deported to Singapore in February 2006 after serving time in two Indonesian jails for immigration offences.
Mas Selamat, a father of four, was involved in JI's plans to mount attacks against foreign and local establishments here, which included the US Embassy and American Club, the Defence Ministry headquarters at Bukit Gombak and the Education Ministry building at North Buona Vista Drive.
His role included directing Singapore JI members to undertake reconnaissance of these establishments and handing over reconnaissance material to JI operational leaders based in Malaysia.
After he fled Singapore, he continued to target the country - specifically plotting to hijack an aircraft to crash into Changi Airport.
The Government said that when his initial attempt was thwarted, he continued to believe in the feasibility of the plan and intended to pursue it in the future when the opportunity presented itself.
When he was finally captured in Malang, some 40 km south of Pasuruan on Jan 20 2006, after about five months on the run, Mas Selamat was found to be carrying false identification - an offence similar to previous charges that arose from his first arrest in February 2003.
That earlier arrest ended his 14-month run from the law, which began when he fled Singapore in December 2001 after the Republic's crackdown on terrorists had netted about a dozen of his JI comrades.
What he did, or whom he met, during his five-month freedom is still a mystery.
Extracted from: Straits Times Interactive, 27 Feb 2008
70 Comments:
I feel that Mas Selamat is very stupid. His thought of wanting to bomb Singapore's many infrastructure landed him in the detention center, controlled by ISD. Although Singapore did not offend him directly or indirectly, he wanted to disrupt the peace and stability Singapore is enjoying now. If his plans succeed, it will cause the lives of many innocent and unarmed civilians. This will result in a international hunt for the mastermind, Mas Selamat. He is very irresponsible as he escaped Singapore, leaving many of his comrades behind to face the music. He even plotted to destroy Changi Airport when he was on the run. Being a Singaporean and also with his family in Singapore, he is still determined to cause harm to the country. This can show how much he hated Singapore. I hope that he will be busted soon to act as a boost for the international crackdown of terrorist organisations.
Yeo Wei Min(39) 4E5
I feel that Mas Selamat is too naive. He thinks that he would be able to create terror among the people through hijacking of planes and destruction of building. But he was caught red-handed not once, but twice! One in Riau Island of Bintan on December 2001,and the other in Malang on 20th Jan 2006, after about five months on the run.
From his actions, he is over confident of himself as he did not give up the idea of terrorism and fled; continuing to plan for the attacks on the country, thinking that he would succeed. But he did not realise that the same thing was going to repeat again and he would be caught. It is comforting that our country is high on security as if they did not raise their awareness, and allow terrorism to take place in Singapore example in Changi Airport, many innocent lifes would be lost! Not only that. Citizens of singapore would be physcologically affected and have a fear of terrorism in our country might happen again. Also, Singapore’s economy would be greatly affected due the repair work on the damages that would be caused. But from the last sentence, it says ‘What he did, or whom he met, during his five-month freedom is still a mystery’. It was highly possible that he met up with his ‘fellow’ terrorist and continued with the planning of the attacks.
Therefore from this article, it urges the citizens of Singapore and the government to be always be on their guard to prevent terrorist to have any chance to launch an attack on our country.
Tan Wei Jie(33) 4E5
Mas Selamat, 45, and four other members of the terrorist organization have already served detention orders under the Internal Security Act between March and May 2006. I personally feel that terrorists are very stubborn people. They have their strong beliefs of their stand and even when they are criticized, they still carry on with their plan. Despite being caught by the police many times, they continue to make their stupid plans and this only further increase their wrong doings. Mas Selamat himself, has a family of four, I feel that he should actually spare a thought for his children. I’m sure they wouldn’t want their father to be a terrorist. He is being a very bad example to his children. This incident has also raised Singaporeans awareness of terrorist attacks. Posters have been put up everywhere in Singapore to identify Mas Selamat and report him to the police. Security has also been tightened. This shows that Singapore is actually quite prepared for such things to happen. Mas Selamat tried to plot to hijack an aircraft to crash into Changi Airport, as Changi Airport was one of the main exchange venues. By doing so, he would be able to destroy many countries’ trading. I think that people should have some self pride and know what is wrong and what is right.
Kwok Jing Yi(17)
4E1
I feel that Mas Selamat is a foolish and selfish man.
He has been jailed twice in two Indonesian jails after being arrested on the Riau island and in Malang detained under the Internal Security Act during the nationwide crack down on terrorists. Yet he does not want to change his ways and still insists on trying to carry out terrorist activities in Singapore.
His plans to attack various government and public venues have been foiled more than once by the police, yet he persists on trying to carry out his plans.
Even if his plans are successful, what does he have to gain? Not only is he placing his life at jeopardy, he is also threathening the well-being of his family. I feel that his actions are rather selfish and that he is not responsible enough to be a father.
Which child would want their father to be a murderer? That is why I think he is foolish. Though his fellow terrorist accomplices would respect him, his children and family members would despise him.
However, with the recent escape of such a dangerous man, it is not only the responsibillity of Singaporeans to be vigilant but also that of the region as though he may be targetting Singapore, he could have other undiscovered plots on the rest of the Southeast Asian region.
Leon Francisco(6) 4E5
I personally feel that Mas Selamat is just like any JI or Al-Qaeda members, constantly planning bombings in countries to cause chaos and mass destruction. They attack other religions that do not believe in their islamic religion, and the people they harm are mostly innocent. They use the name of islamic religion and claim that they are fighting the holy war. To them their religion is merely another excuse to carry out their activities. This is very wrong. Islamic religion does not at all, promote violence. He is also an extremly dangerous man, as he plotted to crash a plane into Changi Airport once, but his planned was foiled. Being a father of four, he is setting a terrible example for his children. How would his children feel, when their very own father is at large. His children would not have a good father that would be a good role model for them to learn. Futhermore, after his escape from Singapore launched a worldwide phenomenon. This event also severly humiliated Singapore as Mas Selamat is also wanted by Interpol. This also served as a punishment for Singapore on being too complacent on her security. As he was trained by terrorist organisation JI, he would have no trouble surviving for a long period of time in forests or junlges. In conclusion, being Singaporeans, we must be ever vigilant and prepared for a terrorist attack. This man is dangerous and we must do our very best to cooperate with the police to have him behind bars.
Ku Jia Jing(13) 4E5
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
The escape of Mas Selamat has certainly shocked the nation,not to mention the worldwide embarrassment Singapore,famous for being security-conscious,has to endure.
Having his face plastered all over newspapers has indeed made Mas Selamat an overnight celebrity and the favourite topic among Singaporeans and paraniod parents.
On a lighter note,it may not really be correct or appropriate to say this but I do see a nationwide bonding among the people of Singapore. Why do I say so? Singapore has become one united people.
1. Members of the public handed out wanted posters of Mas Selamat nationwide
2. Every corner of Singapore has these posters plastered all over the walls
3. The Police Force combed through every single area of Singapore leaving no stones unturned.
4. The numerous tip-offs from the public about the sightings of Mas Selamat.
5.Telecommunication giants such as SingTel send MMS of Mas Selamat to all its users.
And every single Singaporean has the ultimate aim-the successful capture of Mas Selamat.
On the other hand, I do think he is rather insane.Planning to fill trucks with bombs and crashing a hijacked aeroplane into our one and only airport, I truly can't imagine the devastation our country would be in if such acts of terror happens.
Meanwhile, let's hope that our celebrity would be caught sooner or later.He can hide but he cannot run.(He has a limp on his left leg.)
Marissa Humairah Salim 4E1(24)
March Holiday Assignment
(Reflection on the escape of Mas Selamat bin Kastari)
Everything had been going well for Singapore. She had just received the honour of hosting the Youth Olympics in 2010 recently. Integrated resorts currently in construction would provide employment to hundreds of people in Singapore and a boost in economic growth thanks to tourism. Singapore will even get the chance to stage a Formula One Grand Prix this year. Perhaps Mas Selamat Kastari’s escape from Whitley Detention Centre was the price we had to pay. But I strongly believe this could have been averted. We could have prevented his escape; we could have saved the country’s good reputation of having good security. One major incident such as this can cause a terrible chain effect. Will tourists still dare to travel to Singapore for the Youth Olympics or other events largely based on targeting tourists? Hotspots such as the integrated resorts are typical favourites for terrorists to target indeed.
My first reaction to this incident was utter shock. Never had I expected this to happen in a country like Singapore. Letting one of Singapore’s most wanted man escape from a toilet without any supervision whatsoever, I must say, is rather nonsensical indeed. The guards must seen Mas Selamat as a kind and gentle person, reading religious books quietly in his room. Being a religious extremist, this was one fact that the guards at the detention should have taken into consideration before giving him that much freedom. They should have known even though he seemed like a decent person and looks like he has turned over a new leaf does not mean he is no longer a dangerous person. This is after all, I believe, the classic behavior of a religious extremist. As quiet and as good he may behave, their faith in their religion is so extreme that they will go all out to reach their goal, whatever that is. Perhaps the guards working at the detention centre had gotten too soft with him and allowed him to pee by himself. How absurd.
It was no surprise why people reacted to the news with disbelief. Even I could not bring myself to believe it. Singapore is a highly developed country. Surely they would have the technology to prevent a wanted man from escaping. What happened to all the tracking devices and GPRS? Honestly, if I was part of the ISA, I would most certainly, without a doubt, plant a homing device somewhere onto his shirt or pants or maybe even inside under his skin, some place where he will never get it out without a doctor’s help. I just do not get them. There was practically nothing holding him back from escaping. The only obstacles he encountered were a few slabs of concrete and a bunch of guards who allowed him to pee by himself. This should never, ever have occurred. Perhaps now they will learn to implant homing devices.
There is one particular thing about criminal minds that mystifies me. Why do such religious extremists go to such extents as to kill hundreds and thousands of people? What exactly is their aim? And how do they fulfill it by committing acts of terrorism? Killing people, destroying public property, is there really even an aim? What could lead a person to cause his or her own violent death? It seems to me these sadistic people are doing it out of their own entertainment. However, the mind of an Islamic terrorist is very much difficult for people of us of other religions to comprehend. One particularly attractive reason for them to be motivated to do such terrible acts of mass murder is the fact that they think they would be promised of an eternal heavenly paradise by their god and Mas Selamat is definitely one of them. No wonder he was reading all those religious books during the period of time he spent at the detention centre. Perhaps he was getting himself re-motivated from his past unsuccessful tries in wrecking havoc at the pride of our nation, namely Changi Airport. From this, we can see that these people commit acts of terrorism which kills hundreds of people at one go just for their sake. They do not spare thoughts for others. The pain and suffering do not just affect those who are victims of the disaster, but also the family members of these victims. It seems utterly impossible to me that these people will ever reach a place of paradise.
Mas Selamat should never have gotten any possible chance of escaping. Being under the ISA, he was sent to Whitley Detention Centre. However, leaving him in the toilet all alone was the golden opportunity for him to escape. This was something that should never have happened, especially in a country like Singapore. He was even tagged as Singapore’s most wanted militant, planning to even hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport. Yet, somehow, the guards working at the detention centre did not see anything wrong in allowing him to enter the toilet which had possible escape routes all by himself. In actual fact, I believe that Minister Wong Kan Seng should not be blamed for the incident although he has to accept all responsibility being the Minister of Home Affairs.
Even now, all this could be just a conspiracy. I have heard of several conspiracies that have been spreading over the net. Some of which do mention that the police have already caught him but are at the moment trying to lure the rest of his accomplices in. Others say that Mas Selamat had been killed by the ISD but they are trying to cover it up mainly because it is, after all, against human rights. How do you explain why it took 4 hours before the break-out was officially reported to the public? Clearly, they were trying to cover up something. Personally, I do not believe in conspiracies, Singapore would not have gone to the extent of printing so many leaflets, wasting thousands of dollars and hiring so many workers to put them up just for the sake of covering up something about Mas Selamat that they did not want the public to know. I do not think it is worth the effort at all. But no one can hide the truth forever. One day, the truth will be revealed and then perhaps we will find out what really happened to Mas Selamat.
Telecommunication companies such as Singtel have assisted the government greatly. As almost the entire population in Singapore knows, MMS messages have been sent to almost everyone in Singapore. The message showed a smart looking photo of Mas Selamat and a relatively detailed description of how he looks like, such as the length of his moustache. Just kidding. This allows Singaporeans to recognize him easily and alert the police if they spot anyone that looks suspiciously like him. However, there was no need to do this if we could have prevented his escape. Hence, Singapore should adopt new measures to improve security. In schools, cameras can be placed to observe every square inch of the school compound 24/7. A main control room can be set up so that security guards can contact the police as soon as they spot something suspicious going on in a certain area of the school compound. This allows better and more efficient security throughout the school. Mas Selamat may choose to rob students as they are after all, easier targets than adults. If droven to desperation, he may take students hostage to get what he wants. Thus, it is essential that the schools adopt good security measures to protect their students from harm. In terms of improving security nationwide, satellites can be launched into space and advanced GPRS technology can be implemented. Satellites have the ability to observe any part of the Earth from space. Thus, it can be used to scan through the jungles to try and find the Islamic terrorist. However, in order to do this effectively, I believe satellites can be equipped with thermal sensors and more powerful magnification to observe areas on Earth more clearly and effectively. With such advanced technology in place, Mas Selamat would have no place to hide.
I strongly believe that the Islamic terrorist will not be able to hide in Singapore for long, especially if he is staying in the jungle. Reason being that taking shelter in a forest, surviving only on small meals of fruits and vegetables, Mas Selamat would tire easily and feel sleepy. It would only be a matter of time before he gets smoked out. But I believe that he may have contacts in Singapore and there is a chance that he might be staying with them. He might even have escaped to Malaysia, considering that even till now, the police cannot catch every illegal immigrant that comes in or goes out of Singapore. Mas Selamat would probably be intelligent enough not to attempt to swim across the causeway, as what most illegal immigrants do and get caught inevitably by the police patrol boats. How intelligent of them indeed.
Some people in Singapore have made a mockery of the incident. They do not realize the severity of the situation at hand. Some people used Photoshop to create a movie poster of him with the title “ToiletBreak” mimicking the “PrisonBreak” programme on Channel 5. The worst came when some smart person thought it was funny to alert the police on the false whereabouts of the wanted terrorist. The lame excuse they gave was that they were testing the efficiency of the Singapore Police Force when they were doing it for their own entertainment. Some people have no life.
From this incident, I can say I have learned much from it. The quietest people are indeed the most dangerous people. Due to the fact that they hardly express themselves, we will understand little about what they are thinking. Terrorists are too, rather smart. They would require quite a hefty knowledge about avoiding detection from the police and survival skills in a country where everyone recognizes you. We should learn never to underestimate their abilities. After all, even terrorists undergo training at their camps located commonly in remote areas such as the jungles of Sumatra. If Mas Selamat had really escaped and evaded recapture after all this time, he is one remarkable person. I believe it is not only me who has learned something from this incident. The people of Singapore, especially those under the Ministry of Home affairs have learnt a valuable lesson. The guards of the Whitley Detention Centre would have learned the key behaviours of how a typical religious extremist would act and never allow anyone to pee in the toilet alone ever again. Everyone makes mistakes yes, but this is probably one mistake that should not have been made. This could be one mistake that could very well, cost the loss of hundreds of lives if the Jemaah Islamiyah leader decides to go ahead with his plan to crash a plane through Changi Airport. I just hope that the efficiency of the Singapore police and army will allow them to track down Mas Selamat and lock him in a proper jail cell. The PAP too, had better buck up or they will most certainly lose the next election.
Done By:
Lim Chun Hui (21) 4E1
P.S I believe Nathaniel wrote much longer than me, but I assure you that my 2000 word reflection was totally unintentional and I never expected to write that much. I can’t help it when I write essays that intrigue me. My sincere apologies. :P
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Terroist escaped.
While waiting to visit his family, Southeast Asian Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group leader Mas Selamat bin Kastari escaped from the Internal Security Department's (ISD) Whitley Road detention facility shortly after 4.p.m on Wednesday, 27 February 2008 after being granted permission to use the washroom.
I was shocked upon hearing the news from my classmates the following day. How could such a thing happened under the tight surveillance of the Internal Security Department?
Pictures of the terrorist had been put up in bus interchange, MRT station etc. Telecommunications companies – M1, Starhub and Singtel had also sent out free Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages on 1 March 2008 to 5.5 million subscribers with Mas Selamat's photograph, as well as email messages to SingNet users. All these had been done to alert everyone about the terrorist.
Some people reacted to the news of the escape with disbelief, arguing that something like this should not have happened in Singapore whereby security is tight. This was how I felt initially, but after all, we still have to accept the fact. Nothing is perfect in this world; we can’t blame the ISD entirely for the escaping of Mas Selamat. It was not due to their carelessness. If one has the determination to do something, one will succeed. I think this incident should be a lesson to everyone that terrorism is a very serious matter and it is every citizen’s responsibility to work together and bring him behind the bars.
The public should keep a lookout for any suspicious character or articles especially on trains and buses. We should immediately contact the police if we come across any.
I believed that this incident had instilled fear among citizens in Singapore. People are worrying if it’s safe to be out. Well, personally I feel that it is still safe to be out. If not, why was our school Annual Cross Country still be held when there’s a man of great danger on the the run in Singapore? While I was running that day, I realised that there are some desolated areas in the Chinese Garden. Being one of Singapore tourist attraction, why not
Mas Selamat hide himself in these areas? Nobody, not even the police would think of such a place where the terrorist could be hiding. Another reason could be because of the trust we have for the police force in Singapore. We believe that the police are doing everything they can to nab the terrorist and would protect us when danger comes.
However, we also cannot let our guards down and should not have the thought of depending on the police when in danger. Everyone of us should be careful when out in public and to be extra careful in the dark.
This incident is no laughing matter, but yet there are some people treating it as a joke. They made a mockery out of the incident which I think it shouldn’t have happened. Pictures of Mas Selamat have been edited by people and are circulating in the net. Mas Selamat in “HARRY POTTER form” which he wears a round-framed spectacles and had a tilted ‘Z’ scar on his forehead. Even worse, Mas Selamat with blond hair and pink hairband. These are nonsense. Terrorism is serious matter which everyone should treat it seriously. I was angered when I came to know this.
I think that the government should sent out more police to guard the coast of Singapore as Mas Selamat is likely to escape to Indonesia via water transport. The police are to inform the public on the lastest news of the terrorist so that people would be able to take note and be careful when they are out.
All in all, I think that Singaporeans should always be prepared, be it mentally or physicsally for emergencies. This incident had teached me to be alert at all times and of course, not to take peace for granted.
Lin Yihan (23)
4e1
Personally, i feel that the escape of Mas Selemat,who is the most dangerous man in South east Asia from a high security detention centre had dealt a major blow to the reputation of the Singapore Police Force and made us a laughing stock amongst our neighbours.This was the biggest screw up by the singapore government since independence with serious ramifications for both Singapore and the region, It is not merely a security lapse, but a failure,an abject failure of the entire security apparatus in Singapore akin to the FBI's failure to pre-empt the 911 terrorist attack.
In other first world countries, i suppose that the government would resign immediately to assume responsibility for such a disastrous mistake.Not so in Singapore where Mas Selemat's escape was revealed by the media only 3 hours after the escape took place.However, i feel that we would be safe as the government had announced that Mas Selemat was unarmed.
If a dangerous man has escaped confinement, the following questions should be addressed:
1)When did he escaped?
2)How did he escaped?
3)What did he wear when he escaped?
Also, the answer to these questions must be supported with a video clip. This way, Singaporeans would really believed that Mas Selemat do or do not exist. Personally, I suspected that the news of Mas Selemat’s escape is used to bait other supporters and terrorist who are closed to him.This may even be just a nation-wide fire drill to make Singaporeans remain vigilient.To me, Mas Selemat is not real and will continue to be unreal until Singaporeans see the video footage of his escape or his plans to bomb Changi airport or maybe even other places.Also, keeping Mas selemat in Singapore might make him harmless as he needs explosives, needs to get a plan, mounts it, get people to execute the plan, It is easier done in Indonesia than in Singapore.The bottom line is that I urge Singaporeans to be alert all the time and not to be complacent about security which most take for granted.Just one villain can end all our hopes for a bright future.For those who critisise the government for spending to much money on our security, let this be a lesson for life.Just one bombing that takes place in Singapore would affect our country more than anyone know.Our tourism business would be affected, so will our trade.
Strangely, have you noticed that our very own prime minister had been silent all this while? Funny, he was very out there when we won the bid to host the Youth Olympic games.Who knows, maybe he was too busy.
At first, I did not know that Mas Selemat is a Singaporean.After reading the newspapers just after the escape took place, I was surprised to learn that he was a Singaporean. I feel that terrorism should not be a laughing matter,especially not in security conscious Singapore, but the escape of a limping Islamist extremist suspect had become a laughing stock among us. It seems to me that the whole motive of putting up posters of Mas selemat is to drive him out of Singapore.I think that the government are just pretending to be searching for him(its been so many days and still no news of him? How could it be). The goal must be to cast him from Singapore to other countries as I think that the government would not bother to waste their resources on a man like him.The “escape” of Mas selemat had just proved ont thing.Singapore can only deal with “small fry”. When it comes to big fries,the Singapore government would only say, in a very solemn tone, “This should never had happened, I am sorry.”
In the meantime, lets just hope that Mas Selemat is caught sooner or later ( if he really exists)and if he was never to be found, to hope that either he drowned in the Singapore River or somehow after all the 're-education' he received from the ISD, he had a change of heart and renounced violence forever.
Thng zhi kai 4E1 (35)
Mas Selamat bin Kastari, aged 45 is a man whom was tagged as Singapore's most wanted militant and linked to a sensational plot to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport, the JI leader of the Singapore network.
Upon hearing the news that Mas Selamat had escaped from the Whitley Detention Centre, I was utterly shocked. How could anyone escaped from a place where it is highly secured and under tight surveillance? Where are all the surveillance cameras which could at least captured Mas Selamat before he escaped through the toilet? Many questions arose in my mind, thinking of all the possible reasons.
1. Is there bribery among the policemen?
2. Could the policemen in charge of Mas Selamat be a JI member?
3. Mas Selamat was too clever.
4. Or might Mas Selamat be dead?
I think that the first few prediction is kind of impossible and absurd. Personally, I feel that Mas Selamat’s escape is probably due to an “insider job”. He might be too stubborn, not willing to speak out any information about the JI, therefore the ISD officials might have tortured him and accidentally killed him. Thus, so as not to arouse any major movement and disagreement among people, the officers may plan to give the public a wrong perception that Mas Selamat had escaped but not dead. However, it was still possible that he is hiding somewhere in the bushes or forests right now.
Mas Selamat who was a child of four is irresponsible for leaving his family alone to face all the problems and suffer by themselves. He did not even consider the consequences after all his misdoings. His children might be prejudice and judge by their fellow schoolmates, looking at them differently. I doubt no one would like to have a father like him.
Telecommunications companies such as Singtel and M1 had did a great job in helping the search of Mas Selamat. MMS messages have been sent to most of the users, so citizens could alert the police if they ever see him. Surveillance cameras should be placed all around the schools in case any intruder or Mas Selamat tried to sneak in the school to grab young hostages or find hiding place. High fence with high voltage wire should also be built too. Media also placed an important factor in helping to inform the public how they should react when such things happened.
From this incident, I felt that we should not be so unconcern about the nation’s affair, and be united in order to seize the terrorist. Every one of us played a part and we must always be alert even when such things did not happen at the beginning. Also, we must always be careful at all times. Even though Singapore might be known for her high security system, it is definitely not 100% that we are very safe. Furthermore, we should learn from this mistake and try to prevent any other similar situations like this.
In all, I think that the most important thing now is to win the hearts of all citizens and tourists during the upcoming events like F1 and Youth Olympics and assure them that Singapore is a high security country. And I sincerely hope that Mas Selamat would be nab and put behind the bars soon.
Lim Yan Nong (22)
4e1
Upon hearing news on the escape of the dangerous fugitive, Mas Selamat. I feel very surprised that a single person without any help can escape from the detention centre. However, some Singaporeans feel that such a incident is not much of a matter to be taken in sight as they consider that the efficiency of our Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Armed Forces is very high and chances of putting the 'jail-bird back to his cage' will be accomplished within a short period of time. But on the contrary, these Singaporeans did not realised that, 'If Singapore's Police Force is so efficient, how did the Terrorist escaped in the first place.'
In view of Mas Selamat's action, i find him very foolish on his plans to create chaos and disturbance in our well-developed country. Plans of destroying major infrastructures, such as the Changi International Airport, Defence Ministry Headquarters and a few foreign establishment located in our country. Such a narrow-minded member of the terrorist group has only one goal:Create chaos through murder and violence to achieve what they want. Despite being a Singaporean, Mas Selamat plans to 'destroy' his own country, which in the sense that he has undergone severe brain-wash by terrorist leaders who think what they are doing is to abolish the power of the westerners. By means of declaring Jihad(Holy War). Ironically, such an action has posed an even more threat to themselves as a Jihad only can be declared by a Religious Leader of a Mosque(for example).
Being a very technologically advanced country, Singapore will be able to blockade off help and reinforcement for Mas Selamat provided by the JI.
From this incident, we can learn about the seriousness of Total Defence. In this case, the importance of Social Defence, citizens of Singapore should alert the police if the terrorist is spotted and provide all information needed to bring the terrorist down. Secondly is the Psychological defence, Singaporeans must have faith in their government in capturing the terrorist and should not be frightened as in a state of panic, the JI can strike people psychologically, thus 'brain-washing' people and enlist them into their ranks of terrorist. Lastly will be to learn from our mistakes, taking steps and measures to prevent such incident from happening again.
Lim Kai Herng (18)
4E5 lml,
Terrorist escaped from the hands of the Singapore Police Force? How could that be? You must be joking!
This was what I replied to my friend when she told me about the terrorist who had escaped and is now roaming on the island. As I stayed at Bukit Timah area, I was really scared and shocked.
Following the recent news, a Southeast Asian Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group leader Mas Selamat bin Kastari had escaped from the Internal Security Department's (ISD) Whitley Road detention shortly after 4.p.m on Wednesday, 27 February 2008 after being granted permission to use the washroom.
I must say that this person is really clever as he could escape despite the tight surveillance of the ISD.
People are wondering if this is a plan to catch the big fish. Did the ISD let Mas Selamat escape on purpose in order to nab the other member, leaders or the head of JI ? If this was the case, I think that the police are too navie. Of course JI would not be so stupid to fall for this trick. Even if they want to save Mas Selamat, JI would just send out those who are not important to the organization instead of those “heads”.
This incident will definitely tarnish Singapore’s “safe and secure city” reputation. Citizens are blaming the government for the incident.
Even though there’s a man of danger on the run, life still continues. We cannot just stay at home everyday until the police found and arrest him.
Personally, I feel that such thing should not have happened in Singapore whereby there is tight surveillance under the police force. However, what’s done is done, there is no use crying over the spilled milk. Thus, the only thing that Singaporeans should do now is to unite as one and work together to capture the terrorist.
Police believe the terrorist is still in Singapore. Security analysts say that probably he will plan to head for Indonesia and link up with other JI leaders. If he really managed to escape, then things will be more complicated and it will be very difficult to catch him since Indonesia is a big country with many islands.
I suggest that the police should send out boats patrolling the water twenty-four hours. This will prevent Mas Selamat from heading to Indonesia. Also, the indonesia government should be alert and to get ready in case the terroist had landed on their ground.
The manhunt has been on for almost 2 week. I hope that Mas Selamat would be caught soon and there will be peace in Singapore.
I think this is really a good lesson learnt for Singapore as people tend to take the tight security force for granted. From this incident, I hope people including the police should reflect on the things they had done and what is the next step. Lastly, the police should be trained harder so that this kind of incident will not happen again.
Sri Martiani (29)
4e1
I was not aware of the news that a JI militant had broke out of Whitley detention centre until English period when Miss Lau broke the news to 4E1.At first,I felt utter shock because all this while I had believed that Singapore had a superb security system.However when I got to know that this Mas Selamat broke out of a toilet when he was visiting his family members,i begin to question Singapore security system.How was it possible that this man,who was also injured at that point of time,managed to escaped the vigilant eyes of the cameras and also the tight security within the detention centre? It was as if he had someone inside working for him or being an islamic religion extremist had managed to do some 'black magic' to everyone inside and thus managed to disappear without anyone noticing it. When I got to know that this escaped terrorist had also planned the wanted bombings and also lead the JI in Singapore,fear flooded me.It was because if he managed to do want he wanted,then Singapore would be in great danger as the bombings will reduce her to debris and corpses.
Similarly to my above reaction when Mas Selamat had escaped the Whitley detention centre,many people had reacted the same way and also questioning Singapore security system.Such things as this should have happened as Singapore security should have known that Mas Selamat is the most wanted militant and should have tightened the security around him instead of letting their guard down at certain times.Most Singaporeans and maybe other countries as well believed that Singapore have the best and tight security system ever and now this.The incident must have led Singapore to shame and also carry the burden of letting the most wanted militant escaped under the security very noses.Also the news only break out after 4 hours of the escaped which led me to also question why?
Should we,citizens had known earlier,we could have spotted him somewhere and the search may not become so huge and stretch so long.I personally feel that letting the public know 4 hours after the escaped was a grave mistake.It was surely a price to be paid.However,Singapore government must have their reasons why news of this reached public ears 4 hours later.
A few days after the Singapore security could not managed to nabbed Mas Selamat,telecommunications giants have helped to sent MMS to their users and call for the public assistance.This kind of technology had mildly managed to let the public be part of the security system in Singapore.It had perked the public eye to keep a lookout for him and thus made it difficult for Mas Selamat to escape out of Singapore.
From this incident,Singaporeans can learn that we should be more prepared in case of emergency like this should happen again.We should not take things for granted as everything have its flaws and therefore may not be as good as it seems or sounds.Here,I'm referring to Singapore security and her citizens.
Another learning note is things as important as this should not be taken lightly.This is because up until now,Mas Selamat who was injured at the point of his escape,is still nowhere to be found.He is a dangerous man and yet,the news was broken out to us after 4 hours and also we are now mocking the issue.Like i have pointed out earlier,the security would have been tightened nationwide if we,the public,had known way earlier.The issue was also being mocked as now we can hear songs or gossips of Mas Selamat 'toilet break' and even the MMS picture being turned into an art of edition from the photoshop or even the 'edit photos' available in our high-tech cellphones.
We can also learned to take responsibilty for our own actions.This is because from this incident,we can see that the guards are not held responsible for letting Mas Selamat out of their sight but instead the Minister for Home Affairs held the blame.Our minister was not there at the point of his escaped but instead the guards on duty were.Hence,i feel that Thay are to be blame mainly because they had let him ran away under their noses.
Hopefully Mas Selamat(if he still do exist in this world) will be nabbed soon or i think i will again feel that the security in Singapore have fall and thus may even lose some faith and trust in them to protect us in times of emergency attackes such as terrorist bombings.
Atiqah bte Afandi (03)
4E1 :)
Im so sorry there is a typo error in my 2nd para.I said something that it should have happen but it should have been 'it should NOT have happened'
the sentence is "Such things should NOT have happenned as Singapore security should have known that Mas Selamat is the most wanted militant and should have tightened the security around him instead of letting their guard down at certain times."
so so sorryy.
Atiqah bte Afandi (03)
4E1 ;)
The escape of Mas Selamat was really shocking to me, as I personally feel that Singapore has such tight security, and I wonder how come this terrorist got that chance to even escape. I was taken aback when I heard the news from my teacher, and at first, I thought it was a chain letter sent, when my friend received the sms. I heard that he had escaped after given the permission to go to the washroom.
Soon, pictures of Mas Selamat were put at many of the public places to inform the public about this terrorist. He was 1.58m tall and limps on his left leg. A few days later, I received a police message, with a picture of him and his descriptions, so that we can take note of the passer-bys in public. I feel that the telecommunication companies had really done a good job in assisting the capture of Mas Selamat. The schools should enforce a safer security so that the students do not have to be afraid that they might be held as hostages. The security guards in shopping centers, schools or ever MRT stations should always be on their guards.
Many people reacted to the news with disbelief, thinking that Singapore has such tight security, yet this kind of thing still happened. In my opinions, all humans err. The public shouldn’t push all the blame to the Internal Security Department. They won’t want such things to happen either. I think that since this incident had already happened, we should stop blaming the people, but work together as one nation and capture this terrorist and put him behind the bars!
From this incident, I learnt that Singaporeans should be prepared any time, anywhere, be it mentally or physically that Singapore might be attacked or emergencies. Furthermore, we should work as one now; we should not depend on the police force to capture this terrorist. We should stay alert now, since Singapore doesn’t encounter such things. We always thought that Singapore is a small country, and therefore Mas Selamat will be seized soon, however, after so many weeks, he had not been captured. And lastly, we should assure the other countries about the security in Singapore, for the preparation of the Youth Olympics, so that the tourists do not have to worry when they come to Singapore next time.
I hope that Mas Selamat will be captured as soon as possible, so that there is less worry when walking home at night.
the AIAIs is me!!
Goh Choonyan(12)
4e1
Mas Selamat, 45, and four other members of the terrorist organisation which has regional links and ties to Al-Qaeda, were served detention orders under the Internal Security Act between March and May 2006. Mas Selamat escaped from Whitley Road Detention Centre.
To me, Mas Selamat could be the cleverest and luckiest guy that I ever met, how can an unarmed man escape from Singapore’s impregnable security. This escape shocked the world as he did not bomb his way out of it or have accomplices helping him, all he did was go to the toilet and later climb through a window and now he is free. To many people, Singapore security seems to be one that is extrememly weak to allow such a dangerous man to roam freely in the outside world. I really pity the policemen that were following him as they wil definitely be in deep trouble to let such a dangerous man escape.
It has been about 2 weeks since Mas Selamat escaped and there is still no news about him. Many attemps has been made to find this man. Pictures of him have been pasted everywhere from void decks to bus stops. The three telcos in Singapore have joined in the continuing search for Jemaah Islamiyah leader Mas Selamat Bin Kastari. A lookout message will be broadcasted to all their subscribers, which number about 3.9 million.
This situation has indeed shocked the whole of Singapore; people are praying hard not to see him and are also avoiding the areas that he was last seen. I am guessing that since Mas Selamat have been hiding for 2 weeks; I believe that he must have seeked help from his JI members if not, he would not be able to last this long. Security has been stepped up in the airport and coast to ensure that Mas Selamat will not escape from Singapore and the other neighbouring countries of Singapore have also increased their security. Although on the newspaper and posters, indicating that he is unarmed, we must always be on our guard and keep a lookout for him. He is a man that we must bring him down as soon as possible before he can do any harm to our society.
Singapore has just won many countries to host the Youth Olympics in 2010 and now having such a crisis at this time has really brought shame to the country. If Mas Selamat is not caught by 2010, that will be the end of Singapore. No one will have the guts to come to Singapore, as they may fear to get bombed by the terrorist. This Youth Olympics could be the chance for Singapore to have a boost in its economy
and gain a lot of profits from tourism but with the situation Singapore is in, all this will be gone.
Total defence can be finally put to good use after so many years of training in schools. I never believed that the total defence would ever be put to good use but now this has proved me to be wrong. This is a chance for the whole nation to work as one to bring down Mas Selamat and put him behind bars. I really hope that Mas Selamat would be caught as soon as possible to prevent any more harm done and I really hope that some lucky person would spot him. This will let all of us return to our normal lives instead of living in one that fear of being bombed.
This is a message to Mas Selamat. If you are reading this, I urge you to surrender yourself and just give up, you cant win. Thank you.
Kurtz Chua(16) 4e1
It seems unreal when I first heard about the escape of Mas Selamat. In Singapore, I believed that it is a safe country, with low crime rates and fortunately, no natural disasters.
Even after a few days after the news of Mas Selamat escaping, it remains insubstantial to me. Firstly, it is because I didn’t see any danger around me after Mas Selamat had escaped. Secondly, there isn’t any news of him ever since his escape. The police officers just believe that Mas Selamat had not left Singapore yet. The fearful terrorist is still hiding somewhere in this small country. Yet, the question is, “Where is he?” Since he is nowhere to be found in Singapore after so many days, to me, it seems like this particular person does not exist at all. Other than the posters of his face appearing everywhere in Singapore so as to let citizens remember his face and help to find this terrorist, I did not have the sense of urgency to get Mas Selamat out from his hiding place. Life still has to go on even if a dangerous terrorist had escaped and I am definitely not one of the people who will take an extra move to study every stranger’s face I see everyday to make sure that Mas Selamat is not around me. However, if I get to notice him unknowingly, I would definitely inform the police about it.
The search also includes Singapore’s three telecommunication companies helping out. MMS of Mas Selamat’s face was being sent to many citizens to instill the picture of this terrorist so as to get more eyes to look for him. Newspapers had also published this terrorist’s face in different kind of disguise so as to allow easy recognition even if Mas Selamat appears in disguise. I think that this is a good way to let more people remember his appearance. Media is definitely a mass communication to connect everyone. People do watch television, read newspapers, and have their cell phones everywhere everyday, which makes this message spread to everyone easily. This is why I believed that everyone in Singapore, excluding babies and toddlers, knew about this shocking news.
He had escaped when he told the officials that he needed the toilet. He managed to escape after that. I was surprised to know this. Then, every terrorist would be able to get away. Probably, Singapore is complacent about its security, thus the escape of Mas Selamat could be this easy. This had eventually taught Singapore a good lesson. I believe that Singapore had become more cautious than before when dealing with dangerous people such as terrorists.
As for the citizens in Singapore, I think that there should be more improvements in the sense of urgency in getting the dangerous terrorist out. If every citizen is going to act like I do, all depending on just the government or the police officers in arresting the terrorist, it is definitely not going to work.
Overall, we all know that Mas Selamat brings fear to Singapore. The fact that he is a trained terrorist, he could impose sudden attacks in Singapore. In that case, all of us are in danger. Therefore, we the citizens should not be complacent and have a sense of urgency towards this kind of matter. Not to wait until the damage is done and then regret.
Chong Yan Jing(9)
4E1
why is everyone writing longer than me?
This is rather disturbing, in fact it is causing me sleepless nights!
i was quite shock to hear the news because it is rare for someone to escape from a detention centre and he is a terrorist.
i think such cases must not happen because it is very dangerous for tge country as he may plant a bomb anywhere in singapore.i also think that the security offices are very careless and need to be more vigilant so that such cases can never happen again
government can use telecommunications by sending picture ang description of him to every handphone in singapore so that people will be alert.
i think we should not be overconfident as to have one of the best standard in security as anything can happen.we should also work together with the police force to help them as police officers are limited.technology in telecommunications can help us alot by the easiness to communicate to everyone.
abdul rashid
4e5
The escape of JI terrorist Mas Selamat caused much terror and commotion in the sunny Republic that it may seemed as though this made Singapore greyer. Adding on it, the monsoon season is back here again, not only adding to the difficulty in the search of the escapee, but also making people lower down their guard in keeping a lookout for him (partly because the news hadn’t been reporting it anymore recently.). Some parents decided to keep their children from school for their safety, like SCCG, some parents decided to let their child skip school for that period of time! Commandos and Ghurkhas had to comb natural reserves and Bukit Timah Estates with rifles, affecting the daily lives of many residents, but yet for the sake of their safety as well.
Mas Selamat was detained in Whitley Detention Centre, under tight security and surveillance. Furthermore, the Singapore Armed Forces has always been superior and efficient. Yet the most wanted militant managed to escape from the washroom! This, certainly, needs explanation. When the news broke out, I believe everyone, although dumbfounded, has much to voice out and comment. The carelessness of the Ghurkhas was unacceptable, but nonetheless, the sincere apology from the Minister of home Affairs, I suppose, has made lesser tongues wag. Also, I believe the Ghurkhas put in charge of looking after him, and the Minister himself, is under tremendous stress as the whole world is looking at and counting on them to nab the sly escapee.
I feel that Mas Selamat was not very wise in his choice of actions. As a father of four, he did rather risk his life than to look after his children and take care of his family. I understand he actually has the brains and the wisdom to plot and plan such big attack, but yet did not spare any thought for this family members.
Nonetheless, this escape, although causing an uproar, managed to show how united the Singaporeans are; Telecommunication companies like Mobile1 took part in making all Singaporean known of the danger by mass sending out MMS to every single one who own a mobile phone, Transportation companies put up notices of Selamat’s face and features (limps on the left) around the interchange and on bus exits, etc. Many different companies and organizations have also been roped in, increasing security checks and helping out in the search of the wanted man. Singapore government has been indeed successful in making the country well prepared for every twists and turns.
Ng Pei Ru (26)
4E1
sleepless nite???
well... guess the only one who should complain is the one READING ALL and having to grade all of your work...
as i've mentioned...it's quality and a level of maturity that i'm looking out and grading you on..
the 150 words is actually little to reflect the qualities that i'm looking and grading you on..
*get the hint? ^_^
Personally,i felt that Mas Selamat's actions are rather irresponsible.He did not spare a thought for his four children and kept wanting to bring harm to Singapore.I also feel that he is quite persistant.Despite several failures and getting caught and jailed.Mas Selamat still did not give up and continue with what he was doing and now, he even managed to escape from Singapore clutches.
I would also say he is "brave".Getting caught so many times would normally cause someone to lose confidence and never to try or risk the wrong thing that they had done, but for Mas Selamat's case,it seems that what he had done wrong, it would urge him to try again and do it better.This could be rather scary in a sense.
Mas Selamat being able to escape just shows that Singapore's security is not tight enough.He is still not caught despite the manpower Singapore had sent to search for him.Singapore citizens should be careful and be on the lookout for Mas Selamat.
Besides sending search parties, Singapore also pasted pictures of Mas Selamat on public places like bus-stops,MRT and etc.Schools could take a period off from studying and educate the importance of the Mas Selamat's incident.This would allow the students to be more aware and alert.The Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong could also hold a talk on television on weekends where most Singaporean citizens would be resting at home and watching television and educate Singaporeans.
From this incident,I've learned that security in Singapore is not foolproof and can be improved.I had not really cared about terrorist as I thought something like this would never happen in Singapore but now i realised terrorist really do exist and made me more aware about my surroundings and the world.I also learned that we should equip ourselves with basic knowledge of terrorism so that we would know how to deal with the situation.
Lim Teng Feng Paul (19)
4E5
I feel that Mas Selamat, as a Singaporean, should be protecting Singapore from terrorist attacks and not planning terrorist attacks to bomb Singapore's important infrasturcture with other members of the terrorist organisation.
I also think that it is very irresponsible of Mas Selamat to leave his family behind. I think that no child wants to have a father who got "famous" in a nortorious way overnight. I think they would want a normal family who goes out for family outings together. I think that Mas Selamat is definitely not fit to be a father and also at the same time, I pity his children and his family.
I was shocked by the news when they reported that the most "wanted" man, Mas Selamat had escaped. I thought that the Singapore's security is very tight and they would not have let a wanted man escaped. This shows that Singapore's security has dropped. How could they possibly let a wanted man escaped from a toilet. They should have cuffed him to a pipe or maybe plant a tracking device in his undergarment.
Posters of Mas Selamat have been pasted almost in every corner of the city and SingTel and M1 has also sent MMS of Mas Selamat urging the Singaporeans to inform the police when they have seen him. Schools should also educate the students about the importance of Singapore's security and we should unite together at this time.
Last of all, I hoped that Mas Selamat would be nabbed one day. And the Singaporeans should not take Singapore's security granted and everyone should play a part in improving Singapore's security level.
Shyna Chai Siew Suet (2)
4E5
I feel that Mas Selemat has cause chaos in the Singapore. Although he is a singaporean, he still tries to bomb places in singapore and even abandoned his wife and his children. By succeeding in causing destruction in singapore and innocent lives lost, his aim will be fulfilled. So, Singaporean should help in the work of finding him and then, there will be peace in the singapore. Though he tries to bomb places like the US Embassy, the American Club, the education ministry building, he did not succeed in any of these and so he is useless and stupid. Internal Security Department should not have made that mistake as it is not necessary and they should be more caution.
I hope that fool will be caught and bring to justice. Singaporean will also have more confident in the fight against terrorism. I also hope that Internal Security Department will be more careful and be more prepared of this.
Wong Ning Zhi(38) 4E5
Upon hearing the news of a potential terrorist at large,I was momentarily astounded. A train of thoughts just circled in mind. "How could it possibly be?" I have always thought that Singapore is the safest country with one of the best securities in the world. Mas Selamat was reported missing after 4hours of his escape. I felt it was an insider's job but on the other hand,I felt it was impossible as he had nothing to offer/bribe the guards then and terrorists should never be trusted.
No doubt, Mas Selamat is a household name now. His notorious deeds and amazingly successful escape made him shot to fame overnight. Infamous. I can even picture his revolting face when I close my eyes, thanks to the posters pasted on every possible corners of Singapore and incessant newspaper articles of him. I bet he is even more "well-known" than our local artistes. What a prominent man now!
The police believes that he is still lurking somewhere in our homeland but the question is "Where is he?!" Human resources are wasted on a jerk like him, combing through our entire country just to search for a naive militant leader who aims to conquer South-East Asia with Islamic "learnings".
Jemaah Islamiah's motto "Death in the way of Allah is our highest aspiration." Life is much more than terrorism. What for try so hard and risk your life just to aspire for something unachievable? I think this should definately get into Mas Selamat's head. Is ducking from international crackdown of terrorist organisations that thrilling? Creating revolutions with religious beliefs? What an excuse for those unscrupulous acts.
Honestly,I do not really bother reading intriguing reports of him. I am confident that he will be busted soon and set everyone's heart at ease. Time is the key. Where else can he flee to? With the on going nation wide hunt and so many countries on alert for him, I believe he has nowhere to hide. Even if there is, he will not retreat so easily. The silly him will be back in action again, disrupting world peace with his organization.
This also serves as a precaution to urge countries to always be vigilant and ever ready to exterminate terrorism.
Daphne Tay(34)
4E5
Upon hearing news on the escape of Singapore's most wanted man, Mas Selamat. i was a little shocked that a person can possibly escape from a place where it is highly secured and guarded tightly. Some questions come across my mind. Is anyone bribed one of the policemen? Among the policemen, is there any JI members? Or, he is just too clever?
i feel that the first question is just impossible as the in guarding the most wanted man in Singapore, the government would have placed people that are trustworthy. Then, what would be the possible reason? i guess the reason is that Mas Selmat is very clever and trained to react when he is caught. However, it is still possible that one of the JI members disguise as a policeman previously in case Mas Selamat get caught.
To me i feel that this kind of cases should never happen in the first place or again in countries like Singapore. Singapore is a country which attract many tourists and big foreign companies like Sony and Nokia. However when this kind of case happens it will give bad impression to foreign countries that Singapore is not very secure. Hence giving this idea to other countries, they may not invest money in Singapore and it will damage Singapore's economy very badly.
Telecommunication companies such as Singtel and M1 have responded to the government's call for assistance by sending messages to the most of its users how to react when they see Mas Selamat. Also surveillance cameras can be placed in schools to improve the security. Also media can show Mas Selamat's face everytime so that citizens always can remember his face.
Siagapore should not be over- confident about their high security technology but should always prepare for any terrorist attacks. Citizens of Singapore should cooperate with their police force to make Singapore safer.
sorry miss yee im park..
After reading the article, knowing that Mas Selamat, a terrorist had escaped. I was shocked by the news. I could hardly believe it. Singapore, one of the countries with the best securty let a terrorist escaped easily! How is this possible? The escaping of the terrorist had definetly caused chaos and terror among the public. Not only me, many of my friends took a long time to take the fact that a terrorist had escaped while going to the toilet. Singapore will be hosting the Youth Olmpic Games in 2 years time, a terrorist at large could scare away the tourists. Despite many people being scared, we still managed to act as One People, One Nation. Police combed all the forests, road blocks were set, fearing that he would escape out of Singapore, posters of Mas Selamat were pasted in buses and Mrt trains and many people and people were seen giving out posters of him, telling others to call the police if he was seen. What I think was the most effective was large telecommunication companies such as Singtel and M1 sending MMSes to all their cutomers, telling them to look out for him. This is a very good way of letting the Nation know about the escape, especially for those like me who rarely read the newspaper and watch the news. Even though Mas Selamat is still at large, I am confident that the police will be nab him soon. However, I still think that Mas Selamat is a very smart man. He is small i size and is even cripple in one leg and he is able to escape from the detention centre despite those tight securities. He could put his intelligence to good use, rather than thinking of which place to bomb and go against the law. He used his intelligence for the wrong course.
Peng Chenyu (29)
4E5
“Did you guys know Southeast Asian Jemaah Islamiyah(JI) terrorist group leader Mas Selamat bin Kastari escaped? And he was last seen at the Bukit Timah Area.’’
Everybody went ‘huh’ after hearing this from our English teacher and began asking each other ‘‘what happened?’’
Nobody expected such kind of case to happen in Singapore, a place with such tight security. Is it even possible to even escape from the Internal Security Department's (ISD) Whitley Road detention facility through the toilet even though he is crippled? I questioned myself. Is the police/guard his accomplice? Or could there be bribery? No one can answer this question nor is it possible for us to know the answer. However if the answer is ‘no’ for the above questions, I guess it’s also not anybody’s fault as carelessness is unavoidable.
Nowhere in the world is safe now. Even he can escape under tight surveillance, means that members of the JI can outsmart any person in the world. He can just hide at a place where no one can expect him to be and he can just stay there making bombs and when the storm is over and just bomb Changi Airport, since he failed to hijack an aircraft to crash into Changi Airport the previous round and continued to believe in the feasibility of the plan, intending to pursue it in the future when the opportunity comes. And this is a very good opportunity. It’s the March holidays, families are going oversea for a tour. Imagine a kid happily boarding a plane, and ‘boom’ the hijacked plane just crash. It’s very cruel.
MMS of Mas Selamat bin Kastari had been seen to M1, Starhub and Singtel users to inform them to call the police when seen him. Email messages had also been sent out to Singnet users. These had been done in order to create awareness that a dangerous man is out there, scot-free.
Wanted posters of Mas Selamat bin Kastari is also everywhere. On the wall in MRT stations, on the notice boards at the bus-stops and under the HDB flats and even in schools, also on lamp post etc. It just can be found everywhere you go. However, some people have just nothing to do but to vandalize these wanted posters, such as adding moustache, pimples. I think these people have nothing better to do as to do such a thing. This is not a joke, it concerns the safety of 4.68 million people. If one saw someone who looks like Mas Selamat and wanted to check the wanted poster if that is really him, and he end up seeing an old man with long moustache. By the time Mas Selamat would’ve escaped one more time. There are also cases whereby some people actually reported that they saw Mas Selamat when they actually don’t and they do that just to get rewards.This is very stupid. How can they waste the policemen’s time which they can use it more wisely by searching other possible places where he may hide?
Mas Selamat escape is a wake-up call to every Singaporeans. Singapore safety is not only the police responsibility,but is everyone’s responsibility. We had been taking Singapore’s tight security force for granted. We have to be aware of of suspicious characters and informed the police immediately if we see any.
I can see that the police force are working very hard to try and nab Mas Selamat. They had to be 24/7 on standby and stepping in thick forest to search for the man. They also search all vehicles going to Malaysia so as to prevent him from escaping. Even though they caused massive jams in the causeway, I think it is alright as they had to prevent him from fleeing to other country which will make it even harder to nab him.
Some learning points through Mas Selamat escape:
Firstly, we must never take Singapore’s security for granted, we still have to be on our guards at all times. Secondly, we must be serious to matter like this and shouldn’t make a joke out of it as this is serious matter which may concern the country’s reputation and safety. Singapore is where we stay, is our home, we have a part to play in the nabbing of Mas Selamat by informing the police when we see him and not only depending on the police themselves.
Name: Yeo ZiZhen (40)
Class: 4e1
Tan Hui Min(32)
4e5
Mas Selamat's escape from Whitley detention centre is actually a reflection as to how well Singapore's security is.The escape of a terrorist had really tarnished the reputation of Singapore and at the same time, causing people to lose faith in the police.It's no doubt that the police had already put in a lot of effort in trying to capture him back, from the posters of Mas Selamat everywhere over Singapore,etc, could be revealed.However, it was the police's neglection at first that gave Mas Selamat an opportunity to flee.Now that he had escaped, no amount of apologise could make up,but instead, i hope that the police can come up with better ideas to capture Mas selamat. Mas selamat is really foolish enough to think that he would be able to escape.He is a popular figure in Singapore now and everyone recognise him. There is no way that he would be able to escape!He had even planned to hijack an airplane to crash into Changi Airport.In this way, people upon knowing that Singapore is no longer safe, will not come and this will greatly affect Singapore's tourism, followed by economic.Mas selamat purpose is to bog Singapore economic down and never let Singapore have peace.However, his plan had been thwarted.
Telecommunications companies have indeed been a great help to the police.A picture of Mas Selamat has been sent to everyone through Mms in Singapore.This will help to create greater awareness of the escape of the terrorist. However, feeback from the public was negative.Many complained that they were not able to "open" the message containing the picture of Mas Selamat.Many parents were also concerned if Mas Selamat would barge into schools and hold pupils as hostage. They believed that the inadequate amount of security guards in school would not help in the security of a school.Hence, with the advanced technology nowadays, schools can actually purchase device cameras and have them installed.I believe that this will help in improving the security of many schools.
Mas Selamat is also a father of four.He is really a very selfish man.He did not care about the feelings of his family members.Besides that,if his children's friend were to know that his/her father is a terrorist, they will definitely ostracize the poor kid.Moreover, his family members will have to endure the criticism of the society. how would they be able to take it? Mas Selamat, if he really has that little conscience, i hope that he will surrender soon.
When I first heard the news, I was shocked. I never thought that breaking out of Singapore’s prison was a possible thing. Still, it did happen and we should just accept it and move on to bigger issues like how to capture him. Indeed, some might think that this is a major blow to the reputation of Singapore Police Force and also, a failure of the security in Singapore, but I think otherwise. The lives of many fellow Singaporeans are at risk and therefore, instead of debating whether something like this should not happened, we should debated on how are we going to capture him and how to ensure that he will not endanger anyone.
I also felt that he is irresponsible and foolish. What would happen to his family, especially his children? How would people look at them? I believe people would despise them and give them a hard time.
But still, it is due to we are Singaporeans, one of the affected country in this issue and that is why we detest them. However, I felt that if we are discussing this issue in the eyes of Al-Qaeda, they would flavor Mas Selamat for what he had done and his family would be valued.
I strongly believe that technology is one of the key factors to security. With the latest security, we could have the newest equipments that our soldiers could use. Also, with good infrastructure, information could be spread further and faster and thus this would allow government body to know the news in shortest time. Also, in the context of schools, more hidden cameras could be installed to increase the security and thus ensuring that the pillars of our nation are not in danger. And if anything were to happen, at least the school would have a record of what happened and who entered the school before.
Lastly, through this incident, I believed that we have learn to be always prepared and alert, do not take things for granted and always anticipate the worst case scenario.
Natalie Wong(38) 4E1
This comment has been removed by the author.
First, I find it very ironic that this would ever happen in Singapore. No one ever thought that a terrorist would escape as Singapore is so called a “safe” country. And if some tourist would say that Singapore is safe, I would say that he is actually stereotyping. Because after this incident, this proves that Singapore is not safe, at all. Even such thing doesn’t happen in Malaysia, how weird is it for this to happen in Singapore. To me, I feel that Singapore is really lucky for this to occur after the selection of the Youth Olympic Games. If this happened before, the consequences would be much greater and Singapore will not get the chance to host the YOG. Even if so, I believe that many would not come to Singapore to support them, instead, just stay at home and watch the live broadcast of Mas Selamat “kamikaze” himself at the National stadium.
Second, it’s so unfair that the government is using our parents’ money to print the posters of him. It is not as if he is some famous actor, so why must we pay for the mistake that the police force has done? Just because of the extra GST of 2%, it doesn’t mean that they can print so many of the colour posters, they could have just returned it to us, and the case is closed. However, this incident caused many troubles to people and the residents living in Singapore.
Third, questions of how he escaped came flooding into my mind after reading this article. How on earth did he escape? If a crippled man could escape, I think every other loan shark in jail would attempt to escape. The next question would be if the policemen are bribed, I doubt so. Singapore has very strict laws on cases of bribery, thus I think they would not be willing to take the responsibility, and the money that he used to bribe the policemen can never be enough for the consequence that needs to be taken. My mother said that he used black magic, which is quite ridiculous. There is no scientific prove and evidence that he posses such powers, so it is out of the question. I think the most possible one would be that the policemen were accomplice of him. Or maybe, the mastermind himself is the policemen that helped him. Who would be stupid enough to help a terrorist other than the people of his own kind? The last possibility was that after doing super big business the toilet would be so stinky that the policemen did not even dare to enter the toilet, giving him the chance to escape. That could be a high chance of that happening, but think again, why is there no one guarding outside the toilet and did not notice that he had escaped.
After many days of the same old article and reports repeating, I am more curious of how it happened, and what is happening to the policemen who were in-charge of the baby sitting process. If there are no secrets hidden, the media would have long ago report on it, so being low profile of how it happened, I am very sure that somewhere somehow must have happened, just that it must be too careless on their part thus having to keep it mum.
Mas Selamat is such a dangerous man, of all people they should be careful of, he is the most obvious person they should keep a close eye on. Singapore have always been “kiasu” about cases of bombing attacks, fire, shortage of food, etc. but never have they made a precaution on such cases, this is a signal for a new drill to be set up. It is very ridiculous that he was let off for a five month freedom period after even trying to bomb Changi Airport. Was the police too lenient on him and though that a crippled man can never strike back? They are totally wrong to presume this then; we never know what he is doing now or what he is planning to do next. To take it so lightly is already endangering the millions of people’s lives in Singapore, who knows, he might have already escaped for Malaysia and plan to take action there. If he really does that, Singapore would be blamed for everything, ties between us would also be broken and we wouldn’t have any clean water to drink.
This gave mistake that the police force has made caused so much trouble for people that are going in and out of Singapore. The road to Johor has taken a hit since security was stepped up, causing many drivers to lose their sleep and get stucked in the major jam for hours. Taxi drivers have also saw a major drop in the number of passengers going in and out of the two countries. Since the day of the escape of Mas selamat, the police force has received more that a thousand calls, however, out of the few, some were prank calls. One man, who has a diabetic wife and an autistic child, made a prank call all because of the money that was offered. If this thing did not even happened, he will not be involved in this suit case and would have one less worry.
Saying about money, I don’t understand why the government needs people to volunteer to donate rewards instead of offering the reward from their pocket themselves, for they are the main reason for this.
The person that should be taking the most responsibility is the defence minister, Teo Chee Hean. He is the main in-charge for all these, and was always so positive on Singapore’s great defence, but yet, something proved him wrong, and he now has to face the consequence. For saying that he was hearted by the “cohesive and united” response of Singaporeans, I think it is just a big excuse to cover up the wrong that he has done. To some, it may seem true, but to me, I think happy events that bring the nation together would be something to be proud of, but obviously not occasions that would endanger the lives of us. Instead of trying to convince us of the “good thing” he has done for us, I think he should just put in more effort in trying to find Mas Selamat. At least it helps us more than saying a few words that is totally useless.
The last thing before I end is that I don’t understand why the media keeps on reporting on where they have combed, this would prevent Mas Selamat from coming out!! They should just keep it a top secret and give the illusion that the police is not on high alert and then capture him.
Telecommunications companies have responded to the government’s call for assistance. Moblie one and singtel and starhub have helped a lot buy sending those mms, however I think it is very useless(to me) because I couldn’t open the file. To a certain extend, I think it helped for the majority. People nowadays would rather look at there phones rather than the posters pasting around at bus stops. But I think more can be done, emails should be sent to everyone to keep them informed and also, snail mails could be given out as well.
3 learning points from the incident.
1st, never ever trust the defence minister anymore and never presume that Singapore is safe. Accidents do happen. We must always be aware, alert, and attentive. For now, we have to be on our guards and keep a lookout if he is hiding in our neighborhood. And not give him a chance to strike back. Always remember, our defence is not as good as we thought.
2nd, there is no point running after who did what now, since we know that the security has loosen, we should all do a part in tightening it. Everyone should change the mindset of Feeling Real Confident About our Sercurity Systems, we have been proven likewise. So take a step further, and do the right things.
3rd, now we know there is a JI group in Singapore, we must not hesitate to inform the police if we find any suspicious activities in Singapore.
4th, pray hard that we don't get a father as selfish as him. But i am quite amazed why didn't his family stopped him from doing this foolish act, instead, supporting him.
The last last last thing before I end. To make everything work, We must first find Mas Selamat, then punish him severly for cheating our feelings. Then threaten him to say out the rest of the JI members, keep him in jail since he hates living in the jail so much!
A reminder he is short, 1.58m, and a limp on the leg……..
Cheers! I am finally done.
1478 words. Exclude these thing thing.
Beatrice Wee (37) 4E1
Mas Selamat's escape have certainly cause some Singaporeans' trust towards Singapore's security to drop. An important criminal have escape. How can a country like Singapore where it has a good security let this happen? I think the security was really not careful this time that let Mas Selamat managed to escape.
It is said that he will not cause any harm to Singapore if he is still in Singapore. He is also believed to have escaped to Indonesia. Singapore is such a small country and yet he cannot be found. I think he is already not in Singapore as he would not have been able to survive on the run with everyone looking out for him, unless there is someone to help him out.
Although it is not the Singaporean's fault that his managed to escape, everyone has a part to play to protect the country. Telecommunications have already taken the first step by MMS-ins Singaporeans picture of Mas Selmat and some details of him. Others should also join in to help capture him. Security cameras can be installed in schools and shopping centres to observe actions of everyone. If spotted someone suspicious, the public can use the picture in the MMS in their handphone to compare with the person to pervent misunderstanding.
It is best to capture him fast as he may have already getting ready for the plan targetting Changi Airport. This incident should be a lesson learnt for the guards not to let an important criminal alone, even to the toilet. Detention centres shloud also hav better facilities to minimise the posibility to escape to zero. Singaporeans should always be ready in case of emergency and react to it.
Zhi Wei [19] 4E1
The escape of Mas Selamat has triggered a world wide look out. It has also stained Singapore's reputation as a peaceful country with the defence of the different security agencies. Many racist remarks has been the main topic of conversations.This contradicts the label of Singapore being a Racial Harmony state.
Although the defence authorities have mentioned that Mas Selamat is unarmed and is no danger to Singaporeans, i feel that this was just one way for the defence authorities to keep the Singaporeans calm. The actual fact is that Mas Selamat is a trained extremist who has the mind to come up with plans on bombings, hijacks etc. Futhermore, on one of his arrest, he was caught with the possesion of a book entitled "The virtue of suicide". I think Mas Selamat is one that every Singaporean should be afraid of as anything that he posses might just be turned into an explosive.
Not long before the news on Mas Selamat's escape, Singapore had won the bid for the YOG. This then will make Singapore a laughingstock. It will also threatened the tourism econommy of Singapore.
Lastly, it will be really sad find out that Mas Selamat has managed to escaped the country and create terror somewhere else.
Nur Syahirah[27]
4e5
Upon hearing news of the escape of the infamous Mas Selamat, I was in total disbelief. I mean Singapore is well known for its uptight and impregnable security defense (a.k.a incredible kiasu-ness) , how can Mas Selamat, a JI leader who originally had plans to bomb Singapore’s Changi Airport escape easily while being held in the Internal Security Department's (ISD) Whitley Road detention facility? In my opinion, it could possibly be due to the police’s carelessness or maybe should I say, overconfidence that Mas Selemat could never have thought of any way out through their defense barrier. As mentioned in the news, Lee Kuan Yew states that this would be a vital lesson of complacency for all of us to learn from. Having to go through this major blow to our egos of being a safe country, what else can we do? The next best option I feel is to not to repeat this mistake in the future and to turn this situation around;not to cry over spilt milk. But we have to know we cannot afford to only rely on the country’s security’s effort but also play our part too. From the numerous posters of him in public places and anywhere else you could possibly imagine and also the many police search raids that were carried out at every inch of the island, we might have the temptation to have the ‘Let the government worry for us, their technology so advanced, surely can track him down.’ kind of mindset, but remember, its because of such attitude that we landed ourselves into such trouble. Thus, we ourselves too have to do our part by keeping vigilant and to be on the lookout for him as well.
All in all, I feel that being a small and vunerable country, every citizen plays an important role in order to overcome such problems because we, unlike other countires, do not have the luxury of a humongous manpower but we have have the potential to become one.
annabelle wu yongqin [2]
4e1
Miss Yee is very pretty.
When I first read the news, I was quite surprised that Mas Selamat could escape from the detention facility actually because Singapore’s safety standard is one of the best in the world. The fact that he managed to escape just shows us that even the most efficient country is not invincible against terrorism. A lot of people blame the government for not being careful and responsible but I feel that terrorism cannot be combated just base on the government’s efforts alone. Everybody has a part to play. If we were more vigilant maybe some passer-bys may have noticed him before he actually managed to get very far. I feel that this time round everybody was caught by surprise. Also the government never implemented any measures regarding escape detainees as nobody expected such a thing to happen. I feel that the government should ask all detainees to have a tag around them so that when they escape there will be a alert immediately and actions can be taken faster rather than having to wait for four hours, like in the case of Mas Selamat. However I feel that at the end of the day, we Singaporeans learnt quite a bit about the importance of total defence and being on the alert at all times.
Christina Tien (36)
4e1
I feel that Mas Selamat is stupid and does not think properly before he acts. He's also selfish and acts rashly.
Being a Singaporean, he would have grown up being taught on how to love the country and help to even improve the country. Singapore must have done something bad to him that got him into that situation. I can see no reason so which means he must have been completely brainwashed by other people with evil intentions. His position as the leader of JI network in Singapore shows that he is smart man indeed but dire circumstances caused him to defect to the other side.
Escaping arrest alone shows that he is a coward. Not wanting to face the music but continue the worthless acts of pure terrorism. Leaving behind his mates makes him very dangerous as he will on the look-out to recruit more people. A potential danger he is.
His recent escape from a detention facility coupled with his infamous intentions of terror acts only spells for more trouble. Only with everyone's cooperation that this man be brought down.
Haqiz Annuar (11) 4E5
Upon hearing the news, I was shocked knowing that singapore’s most wanted militant has escaped from prison. Singapore is well-known for its tight national security and safety but the issue about the escaped terrorist calls into question Singapore’s national security. Based on the article, I feel that Mas Selamat’s case is one of the most extreme cases for misinterpretation of his religion. He continued to believe the success of his plan without taking others’ lives into consideration. Even if he managed to carry out his terrorist attack in Changi Airport, it will not threaten the government to fulfil the JI’s wish to create an Islamic state. As a Singaporean, he should not destroy his homecountry for his own self-interest.
Due to Mas Selamat’s escape, not only it tarnishes Singapore’s reputation but also it poses negative impact on the economy of the country. People may hesitate to invest in Singapore as long as the JI leaser has not been found. Furthermore, some countries already cast doubt on Singapore’s capability in hosting the first Youth Olmpycs in 2010. The escape of the detainee may even further raise questions on how Singapore will be able to manage its security where there will be high influx of tourists during the YOG 2010. However, despite all the toubles created, the escape could be a positive thing if our national identity is reinforced in our common goal to find Mas Selamat to upkeep the nation’s security once again. Usually the citizens only focus on their own lives but now they get together to help the country to find its terror fugitive.
All this while, technology plays an important role in maintaining the security in Singapore. Improved communication has made it easier to spread the news about the escape of Mas Selamat. The media such as TV and internet allow people to exchange information at an instant. Even MMS containing the photo of Mas Selamat and the message from the police is used to reach people so that they can help to find the terrorist. Also, if Mas Selamat is found in a neighbouring country, Singapore authorities can be informed quickly through the advanced communication. In schools or public places, CCTV cameras could be set up to track any mischievous behaviours. Most importantly, the government needs to investigate the cause of the escape such that this will not happen again in future.
Cindy Tiodang(10) 4E1
Shiva Ram (30)4E5
I feel that Mas Salamat is very unwise, in his actions. The reputation of Singapore as the most technologically advanced and corruption free country in the South East Asian region speaks for itself. It potrays Singapore as no pushover's. Furthermore Singapore is joint with many of the world's super powers in countering terrorism through diplomatic ties and the UN. Hence it has many aids in countering terrorism. Yet, Mas Salamat is confident he is able to bring Singapore down. Singapore is also prepared for such dangers by its outstanding security and ready civilians through the Total Defence. When I heard the news I was in disbelief. I was surprised that despite our reputation as a corruption free nation and state of the art detention and security facilities he managed to escape. This shows us that we are a facing a huge threat. I feel that we are vulnerable as his escape shows that he and his group are capable of harming not only our country but the world as well. Many Singaporeans are not accepting the news that he has escaped and out amongst us well.I feel that it is bound to happen as our country is not perfect in every aspect of its defence. There are certain flaws in each system and a way around it. We must then be vigilant but yet reasonable. Some people are targetting the muslims saying that they are helping him . This is very wrong. The Singaporean muslim community is against him and his groups actions.Yet there is no denying that somebody is helping him as he has evaded capture from the police. It could be anybody. So we should be vigilant. By suspecting and targetting a particular group, it causes tension and may lead to a riot making the terrorists job easier. telecommunications are a key aspect in the hunt for Mas Salamat. If he is in contact withany of his comrades planning a terrorist attack, the authourities can find out and prevent it and posibly pin point his exact location. Using technology boosts security. By monitoring bus and trains as wellas the schools which are all potential targets or potential areas of sightings, he can be more easily caught.The technologuy found in everyone's home such as television sets and radios are good ways of reaching the public and creating public awareness. The vigilance of the public aids the police in his capture.
In the morning, while I just woke up, I picked the newspaper and shocked to find that a JI (Jemaah Islamiyah) leader had escaped from prison in Singapore. Singapore is known best for their tight security (as in really tight). But of course, nothing is perfect, so this kind of mistake is pardonable.
After reading the article, I personally feel that Mas Selamat is stupid and pitiful at the same time. He is also selfish. Frankly, his stupidity is an advantage to us all.
I feel that he is stupid because he is willing to be used by people who ask for trouble, but without himself realizing that it is wrong. He was, like all other JI members, brainwashed before being recruited. I am very sure that people like him did not think twice about what they are doing and why they are doing this. Killing innocent people is clearly wrong and prohibited by any faith exists in this world. Another thing is that he believes in something which has failed and is not willing to change his plans to destroy a place. If the plan to hijack an aircraft failed, then he should not do it in the future. But he still believed 'in the feasibility of the plan' and even wanted to try it again. This is why it is an advantage to us all because his plan will never succeed; by the time he took the same action, we would know what to do.
I pity him because he works so hard for people who obviously do not love him. But he believes in what his superiors told him: killing people is alright as long as he does it for the sake of religion. He even believes their lie which said that he would go to heaven.
He is selfish too. He sacrifices his own family to face all the consequences. His family is innocent and now they have to face these sufferings? That is totally absurd. I am sure people will see his family as a negative one and probably his family now is being secluded by the society.
All in all, I really hope that the Singapore government has to stop looking for him inside Singapore and starts to alert other neighbouring countries. I am a bit disappointed when I see that Singapore is putting very little effort in searching for Mas Selamat. Even though his plan has very little chance of success, he still is a very dangerous man. He might harm other innocent people and seek help from his leaders now, asking of a new plan. He has to be stopped no matter what. It has to be soon, before another nightmare happens.
Edwin Salvatore Haryanto 4E5 (05)
Mas Selamat has been captured many times after escaping from several prison around the region. In my opinion, he is a very very selfish man who only thinks about himself. Now, he's WANTED in Singapore, and people around the world are seaching for him. Isnt that selfish? People working in Army, Polise and even NS men had to work overtime just to do this hunt. He's just creating more problems to us, the Singapore citizens. We live in fear everyday because of him. Mas Selamat also dont think about his family. Going on a run like this will just make their family suffer and hatred around the country are diverted to them. Pity them because of their father.
About hijacking a plane to crash Changi Airport, doesnt he know that Singapore is very very tight in terms of security? The failure to carry out his plans just reflects on his stupidity. Not only Mas Selamat, the leader of JI in Singapore, but other JI members around the region too. Well, i bet he cant hide that long because most of the people around the region (SouthEast Asia) are all aware of him. Just like the phrase "You Can Run, But you can't hide."
Being ignorant to most nation-wide news, I only know about Mas Selamat’s escape after receiving a call from my sister, who’s in Hong kong, at that point of time. She said it was on the news.
Like everyone else, I was utterly shocked. Singapore is well-known for security and I personally feel that letting a terrorist escape will not only affect the citizens’ safety, but also Singapore’s reputation.
After the news broke out, many questions surfaced. “How did he escape?”, “you mean there was no supervision when he was in the toilet?”, “how can someone escape from the toilet without any realization?” I was muffled by these too, but sad to say, there isn’t anyone who can answer to our questions now.
Many thought that this shouldn’t have happened. I think the police took it for granted that a crippled man alone can’t do anything much to escape, hence, neglected the supervision needed. They should think about how dangerous Mas Selamat is. Knowing that he had once planned to crash a plane into Changi Airport, our one and only airport, they should be alert and not let him have any chance escaping. Due to their negligence, the whole nation or probably the whole world’s safety is at stake.
I hope after this incident, everyone has a higher level of understanding towards terrorist attacks and the importance of Total defence. Do not take it for granted that being in Singapore means that you’re totally safe.
Meanwhile, let’s hope the government stops printing Mas Selamat’s photos and paste it everywhere. It’s a waste of money. Judging from Singapore Police Force’s efficiency, I believe Mas Selamat will be captured soon and put back into jail.
Lee Sin Hui Celine (16)
4E5
Frankly speaking, I am quite embarrassed for the fact that I am naive enough to think that terrorist attacks only happen in countries like US and Europe. Never will I believe that Singapore is also one of the JI’s targets. However, Mas Selamat has proved me wrong.
Mas Selamat has once again escaped. I personally feel that it is a miracle that he managed to escape under the tight security of Singapore. I was told that all the JI leaders and members are trained to conduct all these various attacks in countries. Hence, it is actually not surprising that he managed to escape from the captures by using the skills that he acquired at the training ground.
Until now, Mas Selamat is still not being captured. I wonder if he has supernatural powers which will teleport himself to other places. Singapore is such a small country and yet he is still not being found. Suspected areas have being combed by the police and he is nowhere to be found. Does this mean he is no longer in Singapore? He could have fled at night using wooden boat as transport. The wooden boat will prevent police on sea patrol from detecting it. There is also probability that he is caught, but is not revealed in order to create an illusion for the other JI members. However, these are just hypothesis. Mas Selamat is kicking alive or dead, and whether he has escaped or not, are all still a mystery.
Singapore has its security tighten even further after the escape of Mas Selamat. This is mirrored through the heavy jam at the Woodlands Checkpoint. The checkpoint is heavily guarded by police force to ensure that he will not have a chance of escaping out of Singapore. Pictures of Mas Selamat are put up in public places such as MRT stations, bus stops and even schools. Telecommunication companies, Starhub, M1 and Singtel, had sent out Multi-Media Message to 5.5million subscribers with the detail information of Mas Selamat. As all of us can see, Singapore is resorting to all sorts of methods and is determined to put him behind bars in order to prevent further tarnish of Singapore’s reputation.
Putting myself in his family’s shoes, I feel that it is grief-stricken to have a JI leader as a husband and a father. I ever wondered if Mas Selamat spared a thought for his wife and children before becoming a JI terrorist. It is really shocking that he would choose to hold his belief strongly rather than his family. He is a JI terrorist, or rather is a husband who failed to take care and love his wife, and also a father who failed to give his children a complete family.
To all the people out there, “If you see Mas Selamat, do not confront him. Call the police immediately.”
Teo Sui Xin(34) 4E1
Personally, I would say that this Mas Selamat escape incident have rather gave me a sudden shock. I don't really care much about terrorism knowing the fact that I always make fun of my classmate who is totally against Al-Qaeda and those Iraqis. But after knowing that the JI leader of Singapore has escaped in MY country, I feel that Singapore isn't as safe as before. I feel that his escapre has been a great threat to Singapore citizens. The Singapore JI memebers have ever thought and plotted of hijacking an aeroplane into Changi Airport! No, that can't happen. What more, Terminal 3 had just been built and recently opened.
Knowing the tight security in Singapore, this escape should not have happened. I mean, everyone knows that he is the most dangerous being after his thought of those terrorism. Someone should have followed him to the toilet to check on him. Okay, if that won't happen, since everyone needs their own privacy when doing their business, at least have the toilet's windows barred or have it built smaller, so NO one can fit there. Even if it's big, it would be barred and no one can escape. I am so pissed that Singapore has done this stupid thing. But then again, everyone makes mistake. Forgive and forget ...
Mas Selamat is still on the loose. I just hope Singapore will do something about it, quick if they don't want to lose any tourists, and have a great loss in economic aspects. And I just hope that he will be captured soon! I really do! Oh come on, who doesn't. And I really hope this won't happen again in the future. Not only for terrorist, but for all criminals. Singapore should also do our part, by always keeping guard on all criminals. Ban criminals! They suck!
Noor Farrah Shafieqa (23)
4E5
Visit: overdosage-.blogspot.com
Hahaha! :P
T Kumereash 4e1 (30)
To be honest when I first heard about the event I thought that is was a joke. When my parents and friends told me about it, I was like, ‘are you serious!’ My friends and I made fun of the whole incident the whole day not realizing its seriousness. However, as the days went by it started to sink into me that it was no laughing matter. When I watched the parliament highlights on Monday after the news I felt sorry for the defense minister. The atmosphere in the room was tight with other ministers questioning him heavily. I can tell that his escape had caused a real uproar all over Singapore. In stability within the country was obviously growing.
What surprised me was the commotion that this single terrorist had caused. Singapore’s security on its part had disappointed me. I thought of how lucky it was to be in Singapore of its tight security. However with this man on the loose there is a high chance of an explosion any time. How could such a terrorist escape while in the toilet. To think about it I don’t thing there would be a gap for a grown man to escape from. Some say that he used ‘black magic’ while others say that the policemen guarding him were bribed. The fact that news about it was only out 4 hours later tells us of another story. He may, for all we know, is already dead and the government is hiding it. Personally I feel that he escaped while in the toilet is not a believable cause. Firstly I have never seen a toilet window big enough to fit a grown man. He also had a limp will disable him from climbing up to it. Thirdly I am sure that the area outside the toilet would lead directly to the open land. There would definitely be guarded walls around the whole detention centre,
What has happen has happened. The least we can do is to try our level best to find him. I am pleased with that way that Singapore is handling the situation. His photos all over the place, major checks at the checkpoints and mms to those with phones. It is quiet clearly seen that the government is trying their best and it is working. I am sure that by now that there is no one in Singapore who is not familiar with his face. If u ask me, I would say that we would never catch him again. The public involvement is also very low. Most of them would not bother but I am sure that are some heroes that are risking their lives for the safety of Singapore.
The impact which he had caused to Singapore is devastating. China is about to hold the Olympics but they had hid to the world that bird flu is still at large in their country. This had greatly lost them the trust of the world. Singapore is no different. Although we did not hid the situation I am sure we are still getting the same dirty looks worldwide. To make matters worst we had just been honored to host the youth Olympics. If this had occurred earlier I am not quiet too sure whether we would have won the bid. I am sure that there will be a fall in tourism too. If the impacts are already bad enough what will happen when he reunites with JI leaders to discuss. Imagine changi airport going up in flames. The whole image that Singapore fought for will be tarnished just like that. Every aspect of our security and defense will be heavily criticised.
My opinion of Mas Selamat would be that he has balls. Any man that dares to plot and go past Singapore’s security honored like a hero back at headquarters. If I was him I would feel proud of myself for creating such and uproar in what has said to be the safest country to be in. This is the impression that we as Singapore had given to him due to our lapse. There are many things I have learnt from this incident. In times of crisis the public involvement is very low. The youngsters are also complacent about the security of Singapore. Many still think of it as a joke. Another thing that I have learnt is that terrorist does scare the shit out of me. They can be so determined and would push till their last breath to finish what they had wowed to do. Lastly what I learned did that we must stick as a country and find a solution rather than just talking about it and blaming the government.
I was filled with dubiety when I first heard the news. I seriously wonder how Mas Selamat managed to escape from the detention center. With such tight security, there seemed to be no way for him to escape, but according to the new reports, he was said to have escaped from a window in the toilet. It sounds pretty ridiculous. I mean, Singapore is such a developed nation with advance technology and tight security, how could one wanted man escape so easily from a window. Furthermore the guards actually allow him to use the toilet by himself. They should have followed him closely since he is such a dangerous guy.
Following his escape, I think Singapore responded well. Within a few days time, photographs of Mas Selamat could be seen everywhere and Singaporeans received via MMS, a short description of him along with his photo too. However, despite the quick and immediate actions taken by the Government, until now, Mas Selamat remains at large. In my opinion, technology can be put to better use to prevent such escapes like for example, a sensor leading to an alarm that would be triggered should anyone figure with the windows or anything. Prevention is better than cure, I agree to a certain extend in this case. It would be excellent to nail Mas Selamat and sentence him to death and take precautions to prevent 'history to repeat itself'.
From this incident, I learnt the importance of being alert at all times and not to be too complacent with whatever state Singapore is in right now. Terrorists don't give a knock on your door before they strike. Total defence which we have been learning in our SS since young can be put into use. Singaporeans should remain calm and unite as one to nab this wanted man and retain peace in our beloved homeland.
Ow Yang Jing Yi (27)
4E5
It had been 17days and Mas selamat is still at large.
This has been big news in Singapore and I am very interested in knowing what happened. My aunt said it could be a planned escape because how is it possible to escape when there a more policemen then just one of him and he was allowed to meet people outside and so there is a high possibility that he have already escape out of Singapore. The newspaper of Malaysia even said he had escape to Indonesia by a speedboat. My friends were all guessing where he is hiding. Is it a forest or somewhere else? My other aunt ‘s even more interesting, she says that the police there were braid by him for the escape because logically someone going to a toilet should take more then 15mins even yes, the policemen should have at least check if he is still in since he is a highly dangerous man. Worst still, he is limped and the policemen couldn’t chase up! My mum’s costumer said the Singapore police force purposely made the escape successful, as Singapore wants to catch the bigger prey. All these possibilities have been running through my mind and personally I think he has escape out of Singapore. At that day already he could have escaped since they did not know which direction did he run. So the police searching at customs and combing the areas of Singapore might be too late. I honestly doubt what the police force said; very certain that he is still in Singapore. How can they confirm?
What the government did was indeed calming the society. They got positive people to say their views on air, videos of army coming the area, got posters of mas selamat everywhere in all kinds of disguise and they even got telecom companies to send pictures of him to their customers. The most significant action was they got the police force searching the customs very thoroughly costing a huge jam everyday and soldiers could be seen standing every 100m along highways. This sort of created a thinking that they are doing their job, telling us not to worry. And true enough, as if everyone had now careless about the issue.
I think the escape of him is a big embarrassment to Singapore. Singapore was just selected to host the Youth Olympics because of Singapore’s economy and security. That means Singapore had a very good security and this is very well known. Yet this embarrassment happened! This created a chance for Singaporean to doubt the country’s security. It would be a new history for Singapore. I wonder when will he be caught back again and if he is not caught, how long will Singapore sustain its search.
Chin mun kit (39) 4E1
I was having my dinner while the "prison break" was being reported over the news. It wasn't really clear and all I heard was some parents saying it is safe to let their child go to school. What I initially thought was another flu outbreak turned out to be the escape of Mas Selamat.
To me, it is yet another piece of news. It would, like the 911 hijacking and the Tsunami incident, hog the frontpage and headlines for a couple of weeks and then fade away, by then, it won't be the 'news' anymore. I paid only as much attention to it as any other piece of news.
Now that I am in some way forced to reflect about it, I ask myself, what if, just what if everyone else who watched the news reacted to it the way I did.
No effort would be put to spread the word, espacially to those who don't watch the news nor read the papers. No special effort would be put to take notice of the people around us. Probably no one in Singapore would even care, and lead our lives normally even though a bomb maker escaped.
Let's face it. It was reported just like any other piece of news. If it really were treated as an emergency, probably it would be broadcasted over the radio, interupting the citizen's favourite dramas, Mas Selamat's face would appear on the television screen every commercial break, it should be like some total defence excercise. No one really bothered about it, at least until..
Sunday morning, over the breakfast table, this topic was brought up again. And without any serious thought, I told my dad "Who cares?" And my dad even shared his speculations that they just let him out as a bait to nab the rest of his gang and even that it is to cover up for his death, which I didn't pay much attention to, afterall, does it directly affect me?
Look, if you call Mas Selamat's escape big news, what do you call Mas Selamat hijacking Changi Airport? Well I know that Mas Selamat has escaped and it hasn't really affected me till now. If Mas Selamat crashed a hijacked plane into Changi Airport, our currency strength would drop overnight, our creadibility would be questioned by overseas investors, who knows, maybe even our property price would drop. That, I care. Simply because it affects me, or more realistically, my wealth. Well, at least this is what most Singaporeans, whether you are 15, 30, 45, or 60 feel.
The real DISBELIEF came in only when in the middle of a bus ride to Orchard, "beep beep, you have a message" and people go "Who's ths man?" "Uh, escape from PRISON? Singapore so safe, how can?"
Well to think of it, whose fault is it that these people, for some reason up till Sunday were unaware of Mas Selamat's escape react this way. The government.
Who told Singapore is a safe city? Who told us that we managed to find some tapes at some MRT station that the terrorists hid?Who told us that Singaopore has good weapons and promote MINDEF so positively?
Directly, it is the Singapore Media, yet to some extent, the media is controlled by MDA. So now who is the culprit for making us feel so "safe", and now, turn around and call us complacent.
As a matter of fact, this SMS and E-mail thing will only raise awareness, I mean, has Mas Selamat been caught because of some tip of by the public as a result of the broadcast of his rather normal looking face? Will it actually help to nab him?
The most powerful news spreading tool is actually those harmless looking gossip queens who flock to the void decks the moment their children are in school. They are the ones capable of spreading first hand news the fastest round the entire neighbourhood. They go round the market, the CC karoukae, the void decks, outside the schoolgates to gossip about our latest celebraty: Mas Selamat.
What is technology compared to them? Other than a slight loss of accuracy, which may actually be a good thing.
Will "Mas Selamat has escaped from prison. He is short, 1.58m..." be as attention grabbing as "Mas Selamat escaped from prison, he is carrying a gun, he was a top shooter in school"? That is the power of the void deck aunties, something that technology cannot provide.
Has technology such as the internet and telephone line managed to beat the speed and efficiency of the aunties?
Well, other than aunty power, I did learn something else from this incident.
In times of danger, I shall first fend for myself before I fend for my country. Compare the size of Indonesia to the size of our almost invisible red dot on the world map, shouldn't we be able to nab Mas Selamat in much faster time? I learnt how vulnerable Singapore is, and how dangerous this red dot can be.
A bigger lesson learnt is, how we Singaporeans actually care about our nation. As long as it doesn't affect us directly, we won't care. And that, definately, has to be changed, before the next breaking news is to be Singapore - A place where nothing counts, but money.
On a lighter note, I hope that doesn't mean more NE lessons...
Belinda Wan (4) 4E1
Mas selamat,an escaped terrorist.
almost everywhere posters of mas selamat could be seen.
All those thoughts of the terrorists trying to create chaos to many countries are them being too selfish and inconsiderate.
The escape of Mas selamat has already created an uproar in Singapore.
I was actually slow in knowing the news of the escape of mas selamat,when i first heard about it i thought it was my friend talking about the terrorism in the game.i was very shocked and found it hard to believe that singapore's strict rules and guarding of the areas allowed a detainee to escape.
on hearing it,i also hope that Singapore police forces will be able to catch the detainee soon,as mas selamat could be a very great threat to singapore as it is said singapore is such a small country that just a single bomb could allow singapore to tarnish.
it is also quite impossible for mas selamat to escape from the prison toilet,it is also heard that there may be an accomplice there to help.
Telecommunications companies have responded quickly to the case by sending MMses and SMSes islandwide to inform everyone in singapore to be more alert and if any suspicious person is spotted they should inform the police at once.by having such high technology around in singapore it helps improves the security in singapore much better as even now young students have handphones and they will be able to receive the information quickly.Updated news of mas selamat are broadcasted daily on the news everyday to keep everyone updated and more prepared.
Mas selamat,failed to be a good citizen to maintain the peace of the country by planning the destructiond of singapore,has also failed to be a good and responsible husband and father.
He already has four kids and wife,the wife must be very sad and disappointed that her husband is a terrorist or maybe even frightened by what heer husband is doing.
how about his kids?will they not be traumatized by all their father's actions,maybe its because of the poor living conditions they are facing with,mas selamat is trying to get some earnings to help support his family,who knows? but i am sure if thats the case he will still find other ways out instead of hurting and causing so much trouble to the innocent.
jsut because of this single escape terrorist the people working at the customs have to work extra hard in order to make a safe check that mas selamat has not escaped by hiding in a lorry or any other ways.these people have families too,all the people trying to travel through malaysia and singapore have to waste so much of their time at the customs what if they had some urgent matters on?mas selamat was the cause of all this happenings.
from this escape,singaporeans have learnt to be more united and be it what happen they are always ready to fight or support the country.
for example the army and police force they have conducted a search round the whole island every single area,this shows that singapore is well prepared for any circumstances that are happening to singapore.
therefore,this escape of the terrorist may also end up to be a very good learning point for us singaporeans.
Fortunately,i hope that the terrorist will be caught soon.
thank you miss yee:) the points did help:)
lee shao jun(15) 4E5
I was shocked when I heard that Mas Selamat bin Kastari had escaped from the Internal Security Department's detention facility. In my opinion, Singapore is one of the safest country in the world and how can he escaped from the strict controlled detention center. After he had escaped, the Singapore police search all over the Singapore to ensure that he had no where to hide and the polce had put a lot of posters in the public areas such as buses and shopping mall to remind the public. After so many days of searching, Mas Selamat still has not been founded. Tension has raised, police had receive many false information about Mas Selamat from the public. Governments had tighten various controls to ensure that terrorist do not slip into the country, such as greater checks on travellers' identities, one of the example is the long queue at the Woodlands checkpoint to Malaysia. I hope that the police could find Mas Selamat as soon as possible to give the safe enviromnet back to the public.
Mao Yuying(21) 4E5
Evryone knows that Singapore has very tight and save security system. As evidence, a lot of parents from other countries send their children, even as young as 10-years-old, to Singapore for education purpose. This shows that Singapore's security system is reliable.
However, the news about the escape of JI leader in Singapore was shocking and hard to believe. How can a well developed country like Singapore let a JI leader to escape? CARELESSNESS. We believe that the security system at Whitley Detention Centre supposed to be very advanced. Furthermore, the fact that the most-wanted man cannot even run fast shows that there is 'something' missing from the news.
At first I thought that Singapore only need a few days to catch the JI leader. Even an Australian said that he won't be able to escape as he is in Singapore (as reported in newspaper). However I felt disappointed because until now, the JI leader stil on the run. This shown that Singapore will have to be responsible for any future terrorist attack caused by him and his group.
In the other side, we have to admit that nothing in this world is perfect. Even the best Police Force can make a mistake. Everyone improved from their mistake. So instead of blaming others, I think we should work together to catch Singapore most-wanted man.
Hope that Singapore can become a better country after this incident.
Francis(7)/4e5
The escape of Mas Selamat has definiely shocked the nation as Singapore has always been well-known for it tight security.
Upon hearing the news, I was utterly speechless and wondered what I had heard was true. Questions like "how did he escaped?", "where can he hide in Singapore?", "did he has any helpers?" have surfaced. Although terrorisms always seem to far from me, I still feel unsettled and frightened after knowing that the most wanted terrorist had escaped.
Based on the article, I actually did not surprised that Mas Selamat escaped from Singapore's security. He had been on the run from the law for more than two times, each longer than the other, thus he definitely had some ways to deal with the police. In addition, Singapore's police force had not experienced such issue before as terrorism had always been far from the country, they may not be able to deal with this experienced terrorist.
On the other hand, I also think that such thing should not happen in Singapore. As government has been focusing on the terrorism sector, I naturally feel that the police force will be prepared to handle such matter, thus Singapore police force should not make such mistake to allow a dangerous terrorist to escape.
Technology such as phones and computer can help to spread the news faster throughout the nation. Tv and media can allow the citizens to exchange informations about Mas Selamat. If he was seen in anywhere, advanced technology can help the people who have seen him to alert the police in faster pace.
Through this accident, I also learnt that how much actually the citizens of Singapore had cared about the country. If it does not affect us immediately or directly, we actually would not care much, we would just treat it as something that can entertained us after dinner.
Finally, I really wished that Singapore Police force could arrest him as fast as possible.
Li Tianzhu (20)
4E1
PS: sorry for handing it in late, i really did not notice about the date limit, so sorry!
I personally feel that Mas Selamat is a psychopath. I believe it was a shocking revelation to everyone when it was reported that Singapore’s most wanted man, in his second childhood, had managed to escape from the long arms of justice once again. I find that this is ludicrous and at the same time I am curious about how a 45year old man, with a limping leg, managed to escape his detention center. Personally, I feel that this might have been a conspiracy. Because I have absolute faith in Singapore ,I do not believe that he would had got away without help. His escape was obviously put through thorough planning after seeing how perfectly executed his plan was. The fact that he is still at large shows how flawless his escape was plotted. Despite scheming many diabolical plans to destroy various Singapore infrastructures, and having a long list of recorded escapes from law enforcement, he had managed to once again, slip away. I feel that this would be very influential to Singapore as people look to Singapore as a very stable country with a low crime rate. However, I feel that Singapore still deserves credit for stopping him in his many preposterous acts. Despite, being caught twice, ( once in Malang and once in Bintan) I believe his escape is an open insult to our law enforcers and I believe the government will not take this matter lying down. Through this incident, I have learnt that everyone can and must play their part to contribute to Singapore’s security. As the law enforcers can do little to find him if we do not do our part.
( 150 words. *cough cough)
( I’m sorry for posting this behind your deadline, it absolutely slipped my mind, I did it immediately after my flag day. SINCERE APOLOGIES!.)
Darren Low
4e5
No doubt, the escape of Mas Selamat has proven that there still are loopholes in Singapore’s security system.
Being a Singaporean, he should not have harboured thoughts with regards to threatening Singapore's peaceful lifestyle. By terrorizing his own country, what would he stand to gain? Wouldn't he be indirectly harming his family, which resides in Singapore as well. The father of four should have given his irresponsible actions a little more thought before acting. Even after his plan to bomb Changi Airport was thwarted, he continued plotting against Singapore. This has left me, a singaporean, deelpy appalled by his lack of patriotism.
On the other hand, shouldn’t security in the Internal Security Act be stepped up, knowing that Singapore's most wanted militant is detained in there? In my opinion, the blame shoudn’t entirely be pushed to that one policeman on duty, as there would have been other policemen around helping to keep him under survillence.
However, there are speculations that the policeman on duty might have been in cahoots with Mas Selamat, or that Mas Selamat made use of his extremist ideas to brainwash him.
Hilary Loong(12) 4E5
Upon hearing this news, I was shocked. I didn’t even knew that Mas Selamat and four other members were served detention orders under the Internal Security Act in Singapore. Probably some of us may be blaming the Internal Security of what happened. But what I think is that they might have been slightly less careful on that day of the incidents as compared to other days. It was not totally their fault because there may be other reasons that had enable him to escape.
Singapore has a tight security but what still remains in our minds is that how he manages to escape from the prison’s toilet. Probably, he might have gotten the help from his accomplice. However, it is possible if he had escaped without the help of anyone. What is not understandable is that he had escaped unarmed. We do not know exactly how he manages to escape from the toilet but the typical answer would be that he had escaped through the window. If that is the case, then I think prisons should not have any windows at all. It would be only for our safety precautions so that no future incidents like this would happened again in the future.
His escape has threatened all of our lives. He is a dangerous threats to us. There will only be unsure dangers that might befall us with his continual freedom. He already had plans to hijack an aircraft into crash in Changi Airport. If this ever happens, it would totally disrupt all our lives. There will be loss of lives and chaos in our country. He would immediately strikes when the opportunity comes. We should all be fully prepared before he strikes.
Until now, Mas Selamat still had not been found. Singapore is a small country and yet to be able to find one person is so hard. From what I know, what the police had done to find him is to form a search party and search in every possible hiding place. Other than that, they had pasted photos of him almost everywhere and had sent us his photos through our mobile phones as well. They make use of technology so as to be sure that everyone would know how he looks like in order to help the police locate him. Even so, Mas Selamat still had not been found. Maybe there had been a flaw somewhere. Maybe we are not observant enough of our surroundings to even spot him. I know I’m of those who are quite oblivious to what is around them.
Singapore had plans to build the Singapore Sports Hub as well as the 2 IRs in Marina Bay and Sentosa. If ever there is a terrorist attack in Singapore, our economy will drastically fall. Probably the construction of these place would be disrupted as well. His escape has created a lot of problems, however, it has also allow us to show how united we are in our country to handle such problem caused.
Personally, we should get the help of other neighbouring countries to look out for any man who had illegally went into their countries. Who knows Mas Selamat had found a way to travel out of Singapore? He might not be in Singapore anymore. I think Mas Selamt is too intelligent for his good. I think he is capable of anything and that we should work together as a country and a region to find this man.
Narita Bte Wahid(25) 4E1
I think that the government could have alerted the public earlier. The maximum time for them to inform the public would be 2 hours in my opinion. Four hours would be a bit too long. It was quite shocking that something like this would happen in Singapore considering Singapore being a very safe country. I never expected something like this to happen as Singapore's security is considered to be one of the best. One of the possible reason as to why mas selamat was able to escape is probably due to the fact that the officers are either too complacent or they are getting lazy. They probably think that none of the prisoners would be able to escape because of the "fantastic" security in the prison. The other possible reason is because of an "insider's job". Since the government boast that our security to be considered to be one of the best, the only reason is someone help mas selamat escape from the "tight" security. To let him escape the prison is probably easier than hiding the most wanted man, so the problem now is that why up till now, we are still not able to find mas selamat or even his dead body. Although security has been tighten at the causeway or at the airport, mas selamat might still be able to escape Singapore as it will not take more than 4 hours for a person to escape Singapore. So the main problem is that authorities did not alerted us earlier. If they had did alert us, we could probably be on our guard during the first few hours after he had escaped.
I think that mas selamat would not threaten Singapore for now as he is considered as the most wanted man. He would probably strike a few years later when everyone had all forgotten about the escaped JI. I think that Singaporeans are not affected by mas selamat's escape as i think that Singaporeans are too complacent in thinking that he would somehow be captured. If mas selamat is to bomb the airport or any places in Singapore, i think that is when Singaporeans would finally be less selfish and help the authorities.
Therefore, i think the only reason as to why mas selamat is able to escape, is probably due to our hack care attitude. And i think that we should keep a lookout for him although it has been a long time since his escape.
Nur Amalina (27) 4E1
*sorry for the late entry
i feel that it is very surprising that Mas Selamat can escape from the detention centre, i always thought that Singapore's security is very strict and stuff, proved me so wrong. I also felt that Mas Selamat is very stubborn, he is a father of 4, and is only 45 years old what for he get himself into these terrorist bombing of killing innocent people, unless he wants his children to join him. To think Mas Selamat could escape, this surely disappoint many singaporeans and bring down the security, the internal security would certainly have a high price to pay. Luckily in Singapore, news spread very quickly, with the aid of the telecommunication, they sent informations of Mas Selamat via MMS to most subscribers. I learnt that everyone have a part to play to keep Singapore safe, it's a public effort to find where is Mas Selamat. I also can learned that being a terrorist is a very foolish thing to do, going against the majority and rights, but being one can get you known nation wide overnight.
Matthew lee(14) 4E5
Mas Selamat, 45, JI leader of Singapore, father of four, has fled. Personally, I felt that Singapore’s security was so strict, how can he flee out of Singapore? But on the other hand, it wasn’t surprise for me as I felt that since Jemaah Islamiyah is an international organisation, it might not be difficult for him to flee out of Singapore.
At first I was taken aback as Singapore has such a tight and strict security, how could the terrorist fled out of the detention centre by giving the excuse of going to the toilet, then climbed out of the window. It was certainly out of my expectation.
Posters of Mas Selamat were pasted everywhere in Singapore with the help of the enthusiastic publics who wanted Mas Selamat to be caught as soon as possible but it has already been 2 or more weeks, there is still no news of him. The escape of the terrorist had certainly brought fear to many of the Singaporeans. My friends who lived in Bukit Timah Estates had told me that they were scared and shocked. Newspaper had also printed different photos of Mas Selamat in disguised hoping that the publics could identify him in different faces. A few days later after Mas Selamat had escaped, telecommunications companies helped the police to send a multimedia-message to each and every of the subscribers to alert them. Negative comments did come back, commenting that the message could not be retrieve.
This incident had stressed our government, they had apologised for the fleeing of the terrorist causing fear to all the citizens. This incident may have happened due to the over-confident in our security. This might in turn caused Singapore’s reputation to be damaged and losing profits from the tourism. This crisis definitely brought shame to our country and our chance of boosting the economy of Singapore in the Youth Olympics might be lost.
After so many days, I think that Mas Selamat had escaped out of Singapore through the international links of JI and Al-Qaeda. This incident probably had linked the community in Singapore, working together to help to capture the wanted terrorist, Mas Selamat.
Tang Mei Juan(32)
4e1
Sorry for the late entry.
I was suspicious if the news were real a not, because no one would ever expect such a thing to happen in Singapore. Despite all the drills in MRT station, like to let us has a feel of is it like to be a situation when terrorist attack Singapore, especially crowded areas. Unfortunately,Changi Airport was the target, which is the crucial key as the flow of people there is pretty high too, therefore, it became the target of terrorist attacks. Plus, Singapore just won the bid for the Youth Olympics Game and that would definitely "attract" more attacks in the near future. And with the integrated resort coming up soon, Singapore would definitely be prone to more attacks.
I have always thought that Singapore is always safe as we have not experience anything like this before. Now, with the escape of Mas Selamat, people would fear to come to Singapore and Singapore's reputation is now tarnish. I would say the guards at the whitney detention centre took things for granted or they could be lazing on their jobs and did not pay much attention to Mas Selamat. Knowing that Mas Selamat is a dangerous figure, they should pay more attention to him, and if they would, this would not have happen in Singapore, and now they have to pay the price of not fulfiling their jobs and endangering the lives of the people in Singapore.
Singaporeans should be more serious in drills and not treat it like a joke. Don't wait till its too late then make the necessary amendments, who knows? One simple mistake, you may endanger the lives of the whole nation just like that. Singaporeans are simply too complacent, they took everything for granted. That's why its never wrong to be "kiasu", better be safe than sorry.
Goh Xue Ling (9) 4E5
*sorry for the super late entry
First of all, I will like to apologise for submitting this piece of comment so late (15 March 2008)
Next up, is my reflection of what had happened so far that is to regard with Mr Mas Selamat (You may use to ignore the 'Mr' because I'm not sure if it is necessary)
When I was told that (Mr) Mas Selamat has escaped out of Whitley Detention Centre, my initial reaction was "Eh, so what? Why his escape had created such a big hooha?"
Then my brother told me because Singapore is supposed to be a very well-secured country. So it is actually impossible that any detainers/prisoners can escape. But (Mr) Mas Selamat did it.
And of course, there weren't only my brother and I talking about this incident. In fact, this news was brought to everyone in every corner of the small (red) dot on the world map. Newspaper had (Mr) Mas Selamat's big face as the headlines.
And so obviously, this short (1.58m) man who limps on left leg, became famous overnight.
Questions. Questions were brought up by the public. How? How did all these happened? Why? Why should be this happening in Singapore? What? What are the guards (at Whitley Detention Centre) doing?
I feel that all these questions shouldn't even be brought up in the first place. Everybody is just taking the security of Singapore for granted. Is it only when such an unfortunate event happening would make us realise that we can't always take things to our side forever?
I believe everyone has the responsibility and rights to actually prevent such things for happening. Before any further explanation, please read some of the questions I've been asking myself since the incident:
Why would (Mr) Mas Selamat wants to destroy Changi Airport?? Isn't he a Singaporean? Shouldn't he protect Singapore, instead of thinking ways to harm Singapore by trying to cause chaos and mess?? Why would he have plans to disrupt the stability of his country, which is of course MY country.
Then probably because he is unhappy. Unhappy with his life. His life in Singapore probably caused his much misery. He might felt discriminated by the others, he might felt rejected by the others.. So he thought he would protect the people who also had the same feelings as him by getting rid of the others whom he regarded as "bullies" who discriminate and reject.
But of course whatever I had said above is purely what I felt, not based on any other sources.
And so if it is really because of such thinking from (Mr) Mas Selamat, shouldn't we do something about it? The best solution is really to let different racial group or religious group know each other better, and not have a perspective that the other groups are more inferior. This will lessen the friction between different people with different thinking. And this will also make Singapore a very united country with citizens who are really willing to help and stand up for each other. Once Singapore has gained internal peace stability, it is definitely much easier to fight against potential aggressors who wants to destroy our stability and to create chaos.
Therefore I felt everyone has the power to prevent such thing to happen again.
And recently, I was quite amazed by Singaporeans. Because everyone is working together, to find the short man who limps on the left leg. Having a boring life, I actually went around asking my friends how had ther lives changed ever since (Mr) Mas Selamat escaped? And I had friends who usually don't seemed to bother much telling me, "I became more vigilant and always looking out to people around me to ensure they are not Mas Selamat!!"
Extensive polices, the Singapore Armed Forces and other security resources are also deployed and no efforts will be spared to track the short man who limps on the left leg.
Notices are also placed everywhere to remind the public how (Mr) Mas Selamat look like such that I see "him" on the bus, at my house void deck, in school, at the bus-stop, at the coffee shop, at shopping mall...
Police even made the effort to send MMS which includes (Mr) Mas Selamat face and desription to the public. Yes, I received one too. However I can't open the file because I have not activated my MMS system yet. -____-'''
Rewards will also be given to people who provide crucial hint in hunt for (Mr) Mas Selamat.
The causeway at Woodlands and Tuas are so very jammed due to the search by the police, in case (Mr) Mas Selamat attempt in escaping to other country like he did before in the article Miss Yee provided. Neighbouring countries such as Indonesia has also increase security along border with Singapore.
Then also the police are kind of cute. They even showed the possible images (Mr) Mas Selamat might changed into, such as changing his appearance to a female or changing his hairstyle and etc etc.
But besides the police putting effort in the hunt, we too must contribute. Such as, if we see any suspicious human being who look or behave like (Mr) Mas Selamat.. We should dial 999 immediately.
Lastly, please once again check around... Just in case (Mr) Mas Selamat is just beside YOU!
Done by: Chan Ning (5) 4E1
Terrorists
In my opinion, terrorists are stubborn people. Mas Selamat is one of them. He kept running away which caused alot of trouble for the police military in Singapore.
For example: His escaped attempt which was successful caused alot of trouble. People from the police force had to be stationed almost everywhere in Singapore. Road blocks occured and for the people in Singapore to get into Malaysia will have to be dalayed between one to two hours before they can even enter Malaysia.
Mas Selamat seems like he has not served enough prison times and is always out on the run. When he gets caught, and served the prison times for a couple of months before escaping again.
After his plans to "hijack an aircraft to crash into Changi Airport" was thwarted, he still intended to pursue this matter in the future when the oppurtunity is there. This shows that he is very stubborn in achieving his dreams to "mount attacks against foreign and local establishments" in Singapore.
Mas Selamat is also a sly and cunning person. He makes sure nobody knows about what he did during his escape.
Sorry for the late work Miss Yee. :(
Siti Nur Afidah
4E5
After reading the article, I feel that Mas selamat loves his country a lot because he decided to help attack other countries at the risk of his own life. As a father of four, he did not even think about his children being fatherless if he is being caught and executed. This shows that he would really sacrifice a lot just for his own country. Even so, I still think that his thinking is very selfish and silly because he is doing this to attack other countries, not protecting his own country. If doing this does not help his own country, why does he want to attack other countries? I do not see any benefit to his country or even himself by doing so. He is also a very irresponsible father. He should be working hard to earn money to pay for his children’s school fees, materials needs, giving his whole family a better life. I believe that his family would not encourage him to attack other countries as they are scared that they would lose him.
Mas selamat is a very dangerous person as we do not know when he might come back and carry on with his plans. Now that he is still on the loose, I think that everyone should be alert and report any suspicious people to the police in order to help arrest Mas selamat as soon as possible to prevent him from carrying out his plans.
Chia Shuang Yu (7)
4e1
*sorry for the late reflection. didnt notice the dateline.
When I first heard that there was a terrorist on the loose in Singapore, I was honestly in shock. I didn’t believe it! I couldn’t! Singapore has a very big reputation with the other countries in the world that it has a very good defence and security system.
But it’s ok! Every country has its bad moments. There are some people out there who are ashamed to be Singaporeans just because there is a terrorist is on the loose. These people are very wrong. It takes a whole nation to fight terrorism. In our case, the whole Singapore needs to fight the threat of terrorism.
I don’t think that there is a need to improve the technological equipments to catch mas selamat. It just takes every Singaporean’s awareness to catch that terrorist.
On top of all this, mas selamat is also a father of four. This is the part that disgusts me. How can his children live in peace knowing that their father is a terrorist? Their lives can never be peaceful. Because of mas selamat, his children will never get to experience a father’s love.
The following point I am going to say depends on the reader’s perception. Mas selamat has just escaped from government. He hasn’t launched any attacks on anyone or anything yet! The whole of Singapore is in havoc because he is on the loose! One of his aims must have been achieved. The aim should be to cause panic in Singapore!
Yuvaraj Uthaman(41) 4e1
sorry for the late submission miss yee, i was overseas and saw the deadline only today!
I was in school when I heard about the news. It was through an sms saying “Terrorist escaped and he’s near your school.”. I was puzzled and flipped open the newspaper. Indeed, the front page was splashed with news on the JI terrorist, Mas Selamat. I was totally shocked because how can this danger-free country have a terrorist on the run? How would he have escaped with a trace? How could he even escape?
I believe this is an important lesson that we can learn from. For me, I’ve learnt that we should not take things for granted. In this case, we should not take safety and security for granted. I’ve also learnt that it is better to be safe than sorry. Precautions should be made to avoid mistakes. If more safety precautions have been made, nobody could have escaped. I believe that the government also plays a part in this. Security policies must be reviewed and improviced whenever possible. Measures should have been taken onto a higher level. If these had been taken noted of, the minister Wong Kan Seng wouldn’t have to apologize. (This is the first time my dad have heard a minister saying “sorry”. All the time, “I regret” was the words they use when something bad happened. This shows how serious the matter actually is.)
The following are some examples of how technology can be used to prevent such things from happening:
1. Through small surgeries, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags can be inserted into prisoners or people who are held in police custody. These are like the small stickers pasted onto the back of books from the library to store information of the person borrowing it. But they are actually a computer chip with an antenna. These tags also help to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the market.
2. As technology advances, I reckon security would taken onto a higher level. For exmaple, CCTV can be installed in pblic places like shopping centres, like how it is widely used now in many schools. It actually help prevent bullies from reigning in schools. Under the “recording eye” of the CCTVs, security would be tighter, ensuring a higher standard of living.
3. Also, all passports going through the singapore customs should be biometric. This is so that any phony passports would be easily detected. Especially when a wanted man tries to flee out of singsapore through the sky, land or sea, it would be impossible.
Ang Zhi Qi (1) 4e1
p.s. hey not fair. I came to copy down the question from the blog on Wednesday, n came back today with the necessary notes, to find out that the dateline was on Friday?!
When I first heard the news I took it casually and thought it to be a small matter. I did not know that the prisoner who escaped was a JI terrorist. However after reading the papers I found out that it was a JI terrorist who had escaped from prison. This was shocking news as it came right after Singapore, winning the bid to have the Youth Olympic in here. I felt that the escape of Mas Selamat would spoil Singapore’s reputation especially after the good news of having a Youth Olympic in Singapore. Moreover I had thought Singapore’s security to be tight and strong but this news made me loose faith in Singapore’s security.
Definitely something like this should not have happened. Everyone has a good image on Singapore’s security. However this image had been ruined by Mas Selamat’s escape from prison. His escape is definitely due to the carelessness of Singapore’s security. It was reported in the papers that ‘Mas Selamat had escaped while using the toilet’. I entirely cannot believe that he had escaped from prison as there would be police patrolling around and surveillance camera placed at various parts in the prison that would be watched in the control room. However how he escaped is still a question among many that had not been answered.
I think Singapore should be alert at all times as Mas Selamat could pose any threat to Singapore anytime anywhere. Schools and other areas of Singapore should tighten security by using surveillance cameras and should always have a lookout for this man. However I still have the confidence that Singapore would try it’s very best to capture him.
Singapore should have learnt its lesson. Singapore should never under estimate the potential of anyone. It is incident to show to what extent our security is. Although his escape brings fear to Singapore, our army should persist without giving up to find him. Although this has set a black mark on Singapore’s history it is a lesson to be learnt and not to be repeated again.
Vaishnavi[36] 4E5
P;s; ...My bliddy sis mess up the com by installing family safety where she did not even gave me the password to explore the internet. I am so sorry about the lateness...
His face is seen on the posters all across Singapore, even at restaurants, schools, coffee shops, office buildings, shopping centres and train stations and bus stops.
Yet he, the JI leader fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari, 47, has managed to remain free since his escape for more than half a month.
I think that as the search number increases, this will remain and beg a question. If he is still in Singapore, why can't millions of people spot him when our country is very small. I think that he is very sly, cunning and smart, as to survive in such a small country, of which he is now a wanted man. He may be disguising himself now, living in forests or an abandoned house, eating berries or wild fruits to survive.
Perhaps in such places, shortage of food and also the stress of being on the run can cause him to lose weight. His face would be so-called dull and drawn-looking and he would look haggard and feeling weaker than before. He would also be lacking of nutritions as the body would start using up fats and proteins.
Other health hazards may forced him to surrender. Dengue, pneumonia form the heavy rainfall in the recent days and he eventually heed medical help. However, one thing that he can survive on is the abundance of water, which is one of the keys to survive.
He may remain scot-free for now, but I do not think he will get away forever. Singapore is a very small country and with all the ports, jetties, harbours and checkpoints all highly searched by the authorities, he is unlikely to hide forever. As the days go on, he may just get farther and farther away from the centre but can only halt at a focus position. Hence, I can conclude that he will be captured one day sooner.
Jierong(13) 4E1
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