Mas Selamat Confirmed Dead
I was driving along Lim Chu Kang one afternoon and a wild thought came upon me after seeing pairs of NSFs stationed at every lamp post along the road. These men/boys/adolescents are part of a task force assigned to maintain a water tight (errrr, not so watertight but good enough lah) perimeter to contain Mas Selamat. As of today, Mr Mas Selamat has been missing for close to 2 months (less 14 days). Or from the way I see it, dead for close to 2 months.
I believe, and I can assure you that Mas Selamat is dead. He was dead by the time the news was out. He was dead by the time everyone knew who this Mas Selamat was. He was a dead man the time the mugshot was taken. And there is no need to look and search for a dead man. There is no need to know how or why he is dead, I won’t speculate nor point fingers at anyone. But you and I know, that our country has a TOUGH stance on terrorism.
While I would contend that this is not impossible, I think it is highly unlikely. The political fallout from Mas Selamat’s embarrassing escape is greater than if he died quietly in detention. Given our political leaders’ overarching priority to ensure the population’s high esteem for themselves, it is quite inconceivable that they would cook up a story that a man with a limp escaped while on his toilet break.
Why wasn’t the public informed of his escaped as soon as it happened? It took 3 hours before the news was out. The reason being, they didn’t want to create panic. My question is how much delay then would it not create a panic? 4 hours? 5 hours? 12 hours? The number of hours won’t make a difference cause the point is, some fugitive escaped and he’s on the loose! I wonder if the folks at Mt Pleasant and Jalan Mashhor (residences closest to Whitley Detention Centre) were informed. After all, if they were, they’d make a great perimeter to keep watch.
In the spirit of ‘wayang’ and showboating, a massive search was initiated by the authorities. This might sound familiar to NSmen and current NSFs who are familiar to ‘wayang’ SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). You kick a huge fuss, send all the hardware you have, and position as many people in the public eye as possible. People see, people happy. Got protection, and they are doing their job. And what more, with the army involved, you know something big is happening.
You see the government is once again doing a distraction act by capturing a scapegoat and releasing another harmless ’so-called terrorist’ at the same time. This is used to soften people’s impact towards Selamat’s issue and has the intention of ‘moving on’. This is a nice trick that is used for redemption.
Very soon, ppl will forget about Selamat’s issue.
Perhaps what they should do, is start searching the Whitley Detention Centre itself for Mas Selamat. How about searching the mortuary for instance (if there is any)? Tried checking the body bags?
You know he won’t go far. This is Singapore. It is so bloody cramped here that you’re bound to see at least 10 people in front of you wherever you go. So how did Mas Selamat evade detection? A kilometre in all directions of the Whitley Detention Centre is populated. There’s the expressway to the south and that is a major obstacle to cross. If you ask me, the only way he could was in a coffin.
Okay, so much for the “How the f*** did he escape?” question. Ask yourself. Is it possible for Mas Selamat to escape in the first place? Until the day I read “Mas Selamat in Police Custody”, I believe that man is already dead. Period.
I strongly agree with you that Mas Selamat is probably dead. Keeping him would have been dangerous for Singapore. What if his fellow comrades were to hijack a plane and demand the release of Mas Selamat. It Could be anything. I’m not going to believe that Mas Selamat is alive until he is officially caught. (I doubt)
Within the first few days of his so called escape, I knew something was amiss. He would have died in custody which would be very difficult and politically damaging for our government to explain to the foreign media, International Amnesty, NGOs and Civic groups. You know all these foreign groups are just waiting to pounce on any opportunity to stir international attention and condemnation. Singapore can’t afford that. To cook up a ridiculous tale of his escape seems a safer option. Never mind the inconvenience to the public. The bluff must appear real.Its okay to look silly and discus the whole agenda at great length in parliment. Soon there will be bigger issues coming our way like a major recession or flu endemic and the ghost of Mas Selamat will be forgotten. Don’t underestimate our leaders. They are no political greenhorns. Very brilliant actually.
Indeed, they’re no political greenhorns. Just look at the number of senior leaders versus the younger ones.
I’m glad there are people who’re convinced Mas Selamat is already dead. Death due to tough interrogation!