>Farce Selamat – now I’m truly convinced it’s a cover up

>I have always been suspicious about the suspicious circumstances involved in Mas Selamat’s escapse. From his far too easy escape from Whitley to his escape to Malaysia, right down to his sleeping overnight at his brother’s place.

He was never given an free and open trial. So we never get to see his side of the story. His relatives got jailed after a court trial. Or so we thought. That trial was a closed one! I thought it was open and the press and public were around, so I didn’t see that an issue. Until today….

Mas Selamat’s relatives were prosecuted in closed hearings
Click here is you are an ST online subscriber.
Click here if you are not (you won’t get the full version).

Excerpts:

THREE relatives who sheltered terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari were prosecuted in closed court hearings away from the public eye because of concerns over ‘national security’, it emerged yesterday.

A Subordinate Courts spokesman told The Straits Times that the prosecution had applied for the cases to be heard in camera, behind closed doors.

The courts granted the application when counsel for the three family members – Mas Selamat’s brother Asmom, 60, sister-in-law Aisah and niece Nur Aini – raised no objection.

It meant the cases were not on the weekly list of court hearings, and the media did not get wind of them. Proceedings involving victims of sexual abuse, including children, are often held in camera.

What the heck?

So even his relatives are not given a free an open trial. So how is the public to know what they had to say for themselves?

I am not convinced that it is held in a closed court because it has to do with security. To me, I see it is about….

1) Covering up govt incompetency and hence, they do not want Mas Selamat or his relatives to tell everyone how stupid our security forces are.

2) Mas Selamat truly is not a terror cell, but the govt is simply using him as a scapegoat, to scare the pants out of you on terror threats – the way the govt used some Catholics (including one priest) in the 1980s, as scapegoats to scare the pants out of you on the commie threat.

Here’s my article on why I feel Mas Selamat does not fit the profile of a terror cell – Mas Selamat does not fit the profile!

Here’s an article I wrote, which tells us how MM Lee (in Bahrain) was able to describe the circumstances surrounding Mas Selamat’s escape, even before an official enquiry began!
So whose complacency is MM Lee referring to?
Say….how did MM know so much? Is there some kind of pre-planned activity?
Wait a minute, didn’t Bush make same mistake about WTC attacks too? He said he saw the plane crashed into the tower on TV, BEFORE any TV station aired that scene!

Here’s an article I wrote (not on Selamat but on other “terror” suspects). It is about how the govt uses “fear” to control us. In this case, the fear of “terror”. I compared that to the fear of the commie threat in the 1980s, when those Catholics were arrested.
Fighting Terror or Witch Hunt?

My take is that Singapore, being a lapdog of the US, has to show its support on “war on terror”. Many nations have pulled out of the “coalition of the willing” in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. America has been putting up false terror flags (including the Toner Bomber Hoax and the Underwear Bomber) to create fear amongst Americans to whip up the flagging support. Singapore govt, being America’s lapdog, is doing the same in Singapore.

Until Mas Selamat and his relatives are given a fair and open hearing, where the public gets to see what they have to say for themselves, there would be many skeptics who will take a heavy dose of salt, whenever the Sinkie govt tells us stories about Farce Selamat. Count me as one.

Here is the full dogpile report from the ST.

Mas Selamat’s relatives were prosecuted in closed hearings

THREE relatives who sheltered terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari were prosecuted in closed court hearings away from the public eye because of concerns over ‘national security’, it emerged yesterday.

A Subordinate Courts spokesman told The Straits Times that the prosecution had applied for the cases to be heard in camera, behind closed doors.

The courts granted the application when counsel for the three family members – Mas Selamat’s brother Asmom, 60, sister-in-law Aisah and niece Nur Aini – raised no objection.

It meant the cases were not on the weekly list of court hearings, and the media did not get wind of them. Proceedings involving victims of sexual abuse, including children, are often held in camera.

The three relatives were arrested and charged on Nov 10. They pleaded guilty to harbouring a prisoner of the State and were sentenced last Thursday.

Nur Aini, 28, was jailed for 18 months, Asmom for 12 months and Aisah, 60, for three months.

The cases were revealed on Monday when Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam spoke in Parliament.

The three relatives had allowed Mas Selamat, 49, leader of the Singapore Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network, to stay at their flat after his escape from Whitley Road Detention Centre in February 2008.

Under the Subordinate Courts Act, a court has the power to hear proceedings in camera if it is satisfied this is necessary ‘in the interests of justice, public security or propriety, or for other sufficient reasons to do so’.

Lawyers said it is uncommon for proceedings to be closed to the public, whether in part or whole.

Mr S. Radakrishnan, a director at Bernard & Rada and a former district judge, said: ‘Usually these are cases that involve state interests and state secrets.’

KhattarWong partner Foo Cheow Ming said other cases that may qualify to be heard in camera include those that involve commercial or industrial secrets.

Applications are usually made by the prosecutors, who handle cases on the state’s behalf.

Mr Foo, a former deputy public prosecutor, said: ‘The prosecution is usually the party who is more concerned about confidentiality.’

This happened in 2005 in the case of a man who was accused of offering $500,000 to a senior defence executive for information about Singapore’s naval helicopter project.

The judge allowed the prosecution’s application on the grounds of public interest and national security.

A year before, in a case involving a priest who was taken to court for misusing church funds, the courts allowed a woman to give evidence on her will behind closed doors.

The courts accepted that she could be put in an ‘embarrassing position’ if the contents were publicised.

Despite the oft-quoted aphorism that not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done, lawyers did not think justice would be affected by hearings in camera.

Mr Foo said ‘the accused’s interest is protected by the fact that he is represented by counsel’.

>Mas Selamat does not fit the profile!

>The more the Singapore Government talks about Mas Selamat and his terror plans, the more I am less convinced he is one, and the more I would like to see him put on publilc trial, so that we can all truly see what he really has to say about himself. The latest reports about his escape baffles me. Mas Selamat, the Number One Terrorist in Singapore, does about everything a typical terror cell won’t do!

Here is a collection of reports and links I put up, pertaining to Sg govt’s findings on his escape.

A typical terror cell would not involve his family members. In fact, many a time, family members don’t even know that he is involved and are only informed after he is arrested. Not only family members would not be in the know, even his “closest friends” won’t know either. That’s why you always read in the papers how family members, relatives, close friends and even neighbours would describe the terror cell as “friendly and helpful towards society”.

So why would Mas Selamat, a top terrorist, do about everything a top terrorist would not do – ie get family members to be involved? This issue is baffling. It becomes more baffling when Mr Shanmugam tries to avoid a dicey question – was Asmom’s flat (the flat where Mas Selamat sought refuge) under surveillance after his escape from Whitley Detention Centre?

Was flat being watched, ask MPs

THE work of Singapore’s security forces came under scrutiny yesterday from MPs as they wondered how terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari was able to evade detection while spending the night at the home of an elder brother.

Mr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) asked if the home of Mas Selamat’s brother, Asmom, was under surveillance in the manhunt that followed the escape.

….snip….

Mr Shanmugam declined to say if Asmom’s flat had been under surveillance, arguing that this was a matter of operational security and ‘not in the interest of our country for us to disclose these matters’.

Decline to say if the flat was under surveillance? What operational security now that we know Asmom is his brother? Now that Asmom himself is in jail? Helloooo?

My take is that it was never under surveillance. That’s why Mr Shanmugam doesn’t dare say it. Because if it was under surveillance, surely Mas Selamat would have been caught that night. Unless of course the security personnel who were watching were sleeping, just as those working at Whitley were sleeping, allowing him to escape in the first place.

So why was it not under surveillance? Isn’t it because the Sg govt thought that a typical terror cell does not involve his family members?

But that would be the very reason to keep it under surveillance, no? Because a criminal will always do what the police think he wouldn’t! Doesn’t this show the ineptness of our security staff?

The funny part was Mas Selamat stayed there overnight. That’s very, very dangerous for him. Not to mention very amateurish too. It exposes not only his family members but himself too.

If he is a true terrorist, he would not have put his family under severe pressure, such that they would crack. Remember that family members don’t go for terror training. He may be able to take interrogation, but not the untrained family members. Why risk them cracking under pressure?

So exactly why did he do that amateurish stuff, staying overnight at his brother’s place in the first place? Didn’t his supposed terror training teach him not to do that?

In any case, a typical terror cell depends on his other cell mates. If Mas Selamat was a true terrorist, he would have waited and contacted his mates, rather than going to his brother’s house – a sure death trap. So if he truly is a terror cell, then surely he has outwitted the dumb security force in Singapore.

Whatever the case, this is a sad case of a comedy of errors on the part of our Sg govt. A good comedy that could be a money-spinner on the big screen.

Having said that, I believe that we are not told the full story – until Mas Selamat gets his open fair trial. Otherwise we would be hearing stories only from the goons of the government. Let’s laugh while we can in the meantime.

Mas Selamat simply doesn’t fit the profile of the typical terrorist. He’s more like Mr Bean outwitting the authorities and the system.

PS – While I think that Mas Selamat’s stay overnight at his brother’s place is amateurish on the part of a top terror cell, (which convinces me he really is not a terror cell), what is even more amateurish is our security forces, when they did not put up surveillance for his brother’s flat.

Wait a minute….maybe he truly is a well-trained terror cell and that’s why he knows that the Singapore security force is a laugh – and that’s why he knew it would be safe to go to his brother’s house!

>Mas Selamat in the news again

>My main news summary today is about Mas Selamat.

Mas Selamat Special

Mas Selamat does not fit the profile!

Sheltered by family

FUGITIVE terrorist Mas Selamat had help in Singapore after he made his dramatic escape from detention – that was the surprise revelation made in Parliament yesterday by Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam.

He was harboured in a brother’s Housing Board flat in Tampines two days after he broke free from the Whitley Road Detention Centre (WRDC) in 2008, and provided with food, money and a disguise.

The accomplices: his brother Asmom, Asmom’s wife Aisah, and their children Nur Aini and Mahadir.

Three were convicted last week and sentenced to between three months and 18 months in jail. The fourth, Mahadir, was let off with a stern warning.

The disclosure by Mr Shanmugam of what investigators uncovered from questioning Mas Selamat, 49, answers a question Singaporeans asked following his escape: Did he act alone or was he helped by others?

This is what is now known of what happened after Mas Selamat’s escape from detention.

Until now, Mas Selamat has never been given a fair and open trial. The govt’s version is he is a radical. Technically, he’s not even a terrorist (but just a suspected terrorist), because he never really got to execute his “radical plan” – ie according to the govt, ram a plane into Changi Airport’s Tower. But without a chance to hear from Mas Selamat himself, how do we know that is the truth?

‘I’m very disappointed’ : Yaacob

THIS is the text of Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim’s statement on the fact that Mas Selamat’s family members had aided him in his escape:

‘I am very disappointed with what has been revealed.

Harbouring is a very serious offence – more so when it involves a wanted fugitive who was a threat to the whole country – at a time when everyone was deeply concerned and actively looking out for him.

There can be no excuse or sufficient explanation that will help us get over the disappointment.

I am disappointed because we know that Singaporeans from all backgrounds have come together since 2002 – the Malay/Muslim community very prominently – to keep the lid on the danger of terrorism: reporting suspicious activity, counselling detainees, supporting their spouses and children, going out to the public to disabuse any notion that violence against the innocent is tolerated in Islam, and so on.

We have also come together to build strong ties among faith leaders, and among fellow Singaporeans at the neighbourhoods and communities.

Yaacob Ibrahim is playing with fire here. The reason why his family members helped him is because of family ties. Yaacob is playing the race/religion card. He is no LKY. At least LKY was able to control the situation whenever he used the race card. I doubt Yaacob can control the situation if this becomes a race/religious issue.

Harbouring is against Islam
I think accusing a person (in this case, Mas Selamat) of terrorism, without giving him a chance to defend himself (in this case, a fair and open trial) is against Islam too.

Over 100 extended family numbers

Mr K. Shanmugam: Sir, investigations following Mas Selamat’s escape from WRDC identified a loose network of friends, relatives and ex-JI associates. This totalled a few hundred people including Mas Selamat’s own extended family which alone numbers more than a hundred. Investigations were conducted on all of them. Further actions were prioritised and pursued for those cases where there was a necessity based on intelligence.

This sounds like the communist days. Imagine a long lost distant relative of yours gets to be arrested by the ISD. Because of that, you are on the watch list.

More Links on Mas Selamat

- Was flat being watched, ask MPs
- Disguised as a woman
- Why Mas hid in brother’s flat
- Not a reflection of the Muslim community
- Mas Selamat stayed in brother’s flat to evade arrest
- Hundreds probed after Mas Selamat’s escape
- Full Text – Ministerial Statement By The Minister For Home Affairs, 22 November 2010

Other Local News

Sex education effective

THE sexuality education programme has been effective in raising student understanding on sexuality matters, including the negative consequences of teenage sexual activity, said Minister for Education Dr Ng Eng Hen in Parliament on Monday.

Any data to back that one up? Didn’t Iswaran say that there were no complaints against AWARE’s CSE last year? Not that I am saying that there is anything currently wrong with today’s CSE, now that Aware’s odious programmes have been junked. It is just the Minister shouldn’t be saying those things without backing it up with data. He needs to convince parents, knowing full well that parents have lost faith in MOE’s ability to know what is going on the ground.

BREAKING NEWS: AG Chambers makes extraordinary application to court

The Attorney General’s Office today made an extraordinary application for the court to remind Mr Alan Shadrake of his right to seek leave of court if he wants to exit the jurisdiction.

Very interesting. I feel this is a tactical move. If Shadrake chooses to leave, those Human Rights campaigners will lose much firepower to claim that Sg’s system does not respect human rights – because by leaving, it shows that he has been given his right to leave. On the other hand, if Shadrake chooses to stay in order to further his campaign, it would be seen that he was a given a chance to free himself, but he didn’t. Either way, Sg govt still gets to keep its draconian rules of hindering free speech – minus pesky Shadrake to deal with.

1,000 invested $1.b to be PRs

SOME 1,000 investors have invested over $1.5 billion either in an approved investment fund or directly in a business in Singapore under the Global Investor Programme (GIP) to become permanent residents here….

…Close to 100 have invested directly in businesses ranging from engineering, R&D, shipping, asset management and services and trading, creating some 1,500 jobs, said Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang in a written response to a question from West Coast GRC MP Ho Geok Choo in Parliament on Monday….

….Mr Lim said from Jan 1, a minimum investment of $2.5 million is required to qualify for the GIP.

This is higher than the investment quantum required under the PR programmes in widely favoured locations such as Australia, Canada, US and UK, which are in the S$1.1 million to S$2 million range.

$1.5b from 1000 investors, yet only nearly 100 out of 1000 invest directly in businesses, and only 1500 jobs created? The rest are just some kind of money market investments, which helps the super rich companies and govt, but not the ordinary citizen, no? Oh, for places like Australia, Canada and the rest, you need to put your money in a business and employ their residents. Alternatively, the govt will use your money to specifically run govt programmes that help the people directly (like building schools, roads etc). So in the case of Sg, where is the bulk of the money going to?

A different view on alkaline ionised water

I REFER to Dr Yik Keng Yeong’s comments on alkaline ionised water (“Don’t be taken in by ‘benefits’ of alkali water”; Nov 15).

The subject of alkaline ionised water has been widely researched in the last 50 years, mainly in Russia, Japan and South Korea. Scientific studies have generally concluded that it has beneficial alkalising and antioxidant effects.

Alkaline ionised water has been shown to neutralise free radicals and improve the control of many lifestyle-related chronic disease conditions associated with free radical stress – for example, diabetes, gout, obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol and rheumatoid arthritis.

I urge general physicians to consider using the water as a support measure in the management of patients with chronic diseases.

Dr Koh Lam Son

So where is the data to support that alkali water is beneficial? In any case, Dr Koh did not address Dr Yik’s point that any alkali ingested orally would be neutralized by the stomach’s acid environment hence, making the alkali water ineffective.

>At last – Mas Selamat takes a break from his toilet break

>So at last, Mas Selamat’s marathon toilet break is over. However, here are some after thoughts.

Singapore gahmen always boast we are very efficient. Even poke fun at other gahmens so lousy one. But then hor, we lost the tellolist and other gahmen caught him instead.

Some more Malaysia so much bigger than Singapore. We cannot find Selamat but they can. How can?

Sing gahmen give all wrong info. First say he limp. Then say he limp only when walk fast after few days. By that time hor, he slowly walk across causeway.

You know hor, maybe Selamat swam across causeway. Can Sing gahmen tell us when he swim he got limp or not?

Seriously, I cannot believe that our security is so lax, Selamat got away so easily. The investigation by the government appears to blame the structure of the detention center and staff. They never blamed themselves.

One of the most pertinent questions still in my mind is that how the hell can they deactivate the cameras? Surely Selamat knows that there are cameras all around the center 24/7 – yet his escape was timed when the cameras were down?

Hello? Did he have inside info?

Personally, I think this is all wayang. Selamat never escaped. He was allowed to walk out so that the government could detract the issue from the flailing economy.

>That still doesn’t explain how he vanished into thin air

>So the report is finally out. We are told how Selamat escaped. It’s quite a tall story really. A high security detention centre has no grilles for toilet windows? Urinals have doors? How is it that very coincidentally, the security cameras were upgraded and were not recording his David Copperfield-like escape?

However, even if we are to believe that tall story, there is another point that is still unanswered.

That point is, how is it that for the last 52 days, there is not even a single trace of Selamat?

So? Where did he go? If he stayed in the forests, he has to eat and answer nature’s call. Surely, he would have left signs of eaten fruits or urine and excrement for the dogs to trace him.

If he stayed in abandoned buildings, he still needs to eat and drink. No one spotted him the last 52 days trying to steal food and drink?

If he stayed with someone, surely neighbours would have noticed something amiss.

So how did he remain unseen the last 52 days?

Keep believing the tall stories the Singapore government tells you. I prefer to believe it is all wayang from Day One.

>So whose complacency is MM Lee referring to?

>9 days and still counting. PM Lee is silent, but his old man speaks. Strange. MM Lee is able to comment when he is not even in Singapore?

MM Lee blames complacency for JI leader’s escape (from Straits Times interactive)

Excerpts:

IN MANAMA (BAHRAIN) – THE escape of Mas Selamat Kastari is a ‘very severe lesson in complacency’ and it shows that Singapore is not infallible, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Friday.

However, if the former Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leader is still in Singapore, Mr Lee believed that he would not be able to launch an attack.

But if he has escaped to Indonesia, he would be able to link up with his old networks and Mr Lee warned Singapore that it must brace itself for a ‘return hit sometime’.

Asked by Singapore reporters here for the impact of the escape on the country’s international reputation, Mr Lee replied that it is ‘not very good’ for its security services.

‘We should have known that here is a man who has had several escapes,’ he said at his wrap-up media interview here after a week-long visit to three Gulf nations.

‘But obviously, he is a very wily sort of person and must have won the confidence of whoever were his custodians.’

‘So when he said he wanted to go to the toilet, they allowed him to go to the toilet. Whether the toilet had bars and there was no exit from the windows, that has to be explained.’

‘I give him full marks for having won the confidence of his custodians – that he’s completely docile, completely passive and he’s going to remain in captivity.‘

Let us see…..

A commission of inquiry has been set up. We are told not to speculate. However, the police is able to tell us that Selamat worked on his own, without help. How does the police know?

And MM Lee tells us that the lapse is due to “complacency” and inferred that the complacency is on the part of Selamat’s custodians. How does he know?

This is the big question:

How the hell does MM Lee know that it was the complacency of his custodians – even mentioning the point that Selamat has won their trust – that was the cause of the great escape?

The inquiry hasn’t even started yet! So how does MM Lee know all this? The mystery is compounded even further by the fact that MM Lee is not even in Singapore!

How the events unfold from now on would be interesting. If the inquiry comes up with a report – and that report concurs with what MM Lee says – it hints that this whole wayang show is indeed a wayang show, because somehow, the script was already written and MM Lee in one careless moment, “predicted the findings” of the inquiry.

This reminds me of how GW Bush was able to say that he was shocked to see on TV, how the first plane crashed into WTC, when that crash was not even screened on TV yet! Not to mention that the BBC reported the collapse of WTC7, 20 minutes before the actual collapse!

BBC of course tried to cover up that screw-up, but to no avail. The public damage has already been done. Many viewers were unconvinced about BBC’s impartiality.

So MM Lee blames complacency on Selamat’s custodians for the escape. He does not realise that he himself is now complacent in his words, believing that Singaporeans can’t tell he is simply reciting the “script” of the wayang show. Has his complacency given himself away?

How else is MM Lee able to predict the results of the inquiry with such confidence, even before it is convened, unless the script has already been written?

Like how was GW Bush able to “watch” on TV the crash of the first plane into WTC, before it was actually screened on TV?

Or how did BBC report the collapse of WTC7 before its actual collapse?

All events on war on “terror” appear to be pre-written scripts. In this case, MM Lee’s complacency has given himself away, that he is privy to the (future) findings of the inquiry, which has yet to be conducted!

>Selamat’s Exclusive Interview – Satire

>Selamat Kastari, the most wanted man in Singapore (and now in the world because Interpol is involved too), has agreed to be interviewed on how he made good his great escape.

Excerpts:

Solo Bear: Selamat pagi, Selamat.

Selamat: Good morning, you non-god fearing infidel!

Solo Bear: Can you give viewers an insight how you managed to pull off the great escape?

Selamat: What great escape? I am still having my toilet break.

Solo Bear: I see. But isn’t 1 week a little too long for a toilet break?

Selamat: When you are under the detention of the ISD, nothing is impossible.

Solo Bear: But this place doesn’t look like a toilet. It looks like a cave in the middle of the jungle. How can you claim you are still under detention area?

Selamat: In Singapore, any place is detention centre. As if you don’t know that, bodoh!

Solo Bear: So how did you manage to find this cave when no else could find you here?

Selamat: Aaah, that’s the great secret. I learned that trick from my counterpart Osama bin Lostdin. He too has been lost and is now hiding in a cave in the mountains.

Solo Bear: Experts have said that you are able to sustain living in here indefinitely. You have wild fruits and wild animals to eat to survive. What have you eaten lately?

Selamat: The experts are fools. If I were to eat wild fruit or wild animals, I would have left its remains and the dogs would have found me. You think I am stupid to do that?

Solo Bear: Saay…the experts didn’t think of that, did they?

Selamat: Yes, they did not. That’s why I am smarter than them and that’s why I am able to have the longest toilet break in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Solo Bear: Some parties believe that you have escaped to Indonesia while others think you are still in Singapore. Any comments on that?

Selamat: The key to winning battles is to set confusion among your enemies. They are now confused. They don’t know where I am now.

Solo Bear: But I know where you are!

Selamat: You think so, bodoh? You were blindfolded when my men brought you here.

Solo Bear: So tell us Selamat – did you really want to crash a plane into Changi Airport?

Selamat: You believe in that crap? The Singapore government only wants to scare you. I never wanted to crash a plane into Changi Airport.

Solo Bear: So what did you want to do?

Selamat: I wanted to nuke Singapore!

Solo Bear: So why did the government say that you wanted to crash a plane into Changi Airport then?

Selamat: Because if they told you guys I wanted to nuke Singapore, no one would believe them, bodoh!

Solo Bear: So how did you escape in spite you have a limp? You can’t run fast or walk fast. How did you manage to outrun the police without being spotted by the public with a limp?

Selamat: They only told you that I limp if I run, after a lapse of 3 days, right? They truly are stupid in giving information in bits and pieces.

Solo Bear: Oh…I see…you took a slow walk for 3 days to escape.

Selamat: No. That was not how I escaped.

Solo Bear: Really? Then how did you escape?

Selamat: The authorities forgot to tell Singaporeans that when I fly, I fly without a limp. Stupid government forgot to tell you that I can fly too. So while all of you were looking on the ground for a limping man, you missed the flying man up in the air.

Solo Bear: That’s sure hell a lot of information the government didn’t tell us, did they? Why didn’t they tell us you could fly?

Selamat: Because if they told you that, nobody would believe them, bodoh!

Solo Bear: So exactly what is believable to the Singapore people, that the government can tell us about you?

Selamat: Simple. That I had a toilet break to do the prison break. That I had a limp but no limp. That a man saw me going up a flight of stairs bare-bodied, but you need to look for a man that wears a green baju kurung. That I can eat fruits and animals, but yet leave no remains. That I can live in the forest indefinitely without peeing or pooing because if I peed or pooed, the dogs would have smelt that and found me. That is what the people in Singapore will believe.

Solo Bear: Well, that is all the time we have, Selamat. Thanks for the exclusive interview. I am sure the authorities will take quite a while more before they find you. Oh yes, can you show me the way out of here?

Selamat: Sure. See that Detention Centre 300 metres down the slope?

>Out with the whole truth and nothing but the truth

>I can’t believe what the police is telling (or rather not telling) us. This is ridiculous. First, they explained that the 4 hour delay in informing the public did not endanger us, because he was not an imminent threat. But they then proceed to say that he is a dangerous man and even put on a global alert.

Next comes this ridiculous statement from the police. Straits Times dated 2 March 2008.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_212432.html
Excerpts:

JEMAAH Islamiah terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari, who has been on run for nearly five days, is still believed to be in Singapore, police said on Sunday.

Police also believed he is ‘acting on his own’, and is not getting help from anyone.

Police said there is no evidence he has fled the country as he has no money, food, nor transport means.

With no means of his own, police warned that Mas Selamat, 47, who escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre on Wednesday at 4.05 pm, could resort to stealing items like clothes and food to get by.

This does not make sense. So we are told that a wily, terrorist, who is a master planner, escaped and “acted on his own” and now has no food, clothes or money. If truly he is that wily, he would have known that, wouldn’t he? Why then would he try to escape, when he knows the consequences?

However, here is the statement that really knocked me off my chair.

Police also asked the public to look out for the fugitive who could be wearing stolen ill-fitting clothes or a cap.

Assistant Commissioner (AC) Wong Hong Kuan, Director of Operations, giving the first media update on the search for the JI fugitive, gave more detailed description of Mas Selamat’s limp on the left leg.

AC Wong said the limp is not pronounced when he is walking but only shows up when he is running or walking fast.

What the ?????? Why didn’t the police tell us Singaporeans that fact earlier? Why wait after more than 72 hours to tell us that his limp is only noticeable when he walks fast or run?

??? If Selamat is wily and a master of disguise, but has a limp, shouldn’t have the police told us the fact that the limp is only noticeable when he walks fast or run?

??? What good is that piece of information now, after more than 72 hours of lapsed time? Everyone was looking for a limping man, and this master of disguise (that’s what the government would like us to believe), might have walked amongst us, and literally walked out of Singapore hours or even days ago to freedom!

Damn it! Why was that info only given out now? Someone up there really, really deserves the sack now!

Like I have always said, I never believed in this wayang show of fight against ”terror”. All this is just a show for the Singapore government to tell people that they are fighting terror, when they are completely incompetent to do so.

Can you expect your country to protect you against terror? No, like what J F Kennedy said, “Do not ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Solo Bear replies, “Do not ask what your country can do for you, because it won’t do anything for you!”

The country screws up, and you are now left to do the dirty job of finding Selamat. That too, they held the very important information from you, for more than 3 days, that he only limps when he walks fast!

What good is telling us that now when 3 to 4 days is long enough for Selamat to take a slow walk out of Singapore unnoticed, because everyone was looking for a limping man?

Why are they giving us information in bits and pieces? Why can’t they tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

>The Great Escape or the Great Decoy?

>That’s strange. I thought Singapore’s security is so tight that not even an illegal ant is able to cross our borders without being caught. So it appears that the security at our borders is tighter the than security at our detention centers.

Either we Singaporeans are being locked in or our detainees are having a ball of a time being free!

I am somehow not totally convinced with this JI terror stuff. I have made my thoughts clear in this past post of mine – Fighting Terror or Witch Hunt?

The argument I gave in the article is that all governments of countries will try to create an “atmosphere of fear”, so that citizens will rally behind the government. The case I cited was the arrest of a few young and bright “Muslim radicals” who were influenced by the internet. I further argued that there was a precedent to this arrest, when we witnessed in the 1980s, the arrest of over 20 Catholics under the ISA, for “conspiracy” against the government.

Many questions are left unanswered in this latest fiasco. We have a limping man, and yet, he escapes a “high security” detention camp. The questions on the security lapse is obvious. I will however, touch on the arrest and detention itself.

If well and truly he is the mastermind behind the foiled attacks, what the heck has the government been waiting for so long, to charge him for terrorism? This gives me a lot to worry about.

It appears that the government does not have enough evidence to charge him, yet detain him, in the hope to gather the (non-existence) evidence against him while awaiting trial.

Either that, or the arrest was just a show to the public, that the government is “doing something” about the “war on terror”, when in fact the security plans by our government is probably non-existent.

The fact that a half-fit, limping man, is able to escape the eyes of our security men and cameras, in a high security detention centre, speaks volumes about the lack of security infrastructure of our government.

The government has released JI detainees before. The reason given is that they have been “reformed”. How do we know? This again is a worrying point. It could be that the government never really felt that they were a threat in the first place, but simply go round witch-hunting, the way they witch-hunted “Marxists” within the Catholic Church in the 1980s.

So what do I make about the Great Escape? The media portrays we have a dangerous criminal on the loose. I believe that the Great Criminal is not so dangerous as what the government tells us, but probably a misguided person, and was probably “let loose” to detract us from other issues which have been hot on the news – like how did a bunch of overpaid clowns make a multi-billion dollar miscalculation in their budget.

Relax, my fellow Singaporeans. The Great Escapee would be caught soon as what the script has been written. If he is not caught, you can relax too. The Great Escapee isn’t much of a threat as what the government would like you to believe.

Like in the 1980s, where Roman Catholics were the targets of the “Marxist” Threat, in the 2000s, it is the Muslim “radicals” who are the targets of the “Terror” Threat.

Every government uses fear to control its citizens. Why should we be playing the government’s game? The government wants us to believe this is the Great Escape. I think it is probably the Great Decoy.

Eh, Singaporeans! Why you so bodoh think I escape from detention so easy when even you NS men cannot escape from Singapore immigration without doing your NS? Wake up lah!