Editorial
To whom much has been given, much is expected.
TOC has deliberately held back from calling for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng’s resignation as the full Commission of Inquiry (COI) was pending. We agree with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that Ministers should not be automatically accountable for mistakes made down the line.
However, viewing the totality of events surrounding the Mas Selamat debacle, we believe it is unfortunate that not once in this whole saga did Wong offer his resignation, or Lee seriously consider the possibility of it.
Even more unfortunate is the manner in which the possibility of a resignation, if any, was discussed: behind closed doors, away from the glare of the public, with absolutely no attention paid to assuage concerns on the ground.
Given the advanced state of the public relations disaster the government has dug itself into, TOC believes the government’s missteps in this saga will haunt it until the next election, and rightly so.
However, the fallout from this episode has implications far beyond the ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) electoral concerns. The fallout will be felt by each and every Singaporean who will have to live with a government it no longer trusts.
Citizen’s sacrifices must be met with accountability
Lee was supposed to have spoken in Parliament on governmental responsibility for Mas Selamat’s escape. This was an ironic misnomer of what his speech was in reality: the government’s disclaimer of responsibility for the Mas Selamat debacle, and the preemptive insulation of the highest levels of authority from disciplinary action.
After more than 50 days of waiting for a full accounting of the Mas Selamat debacle, many expecting an accounting to the nation were sorely disappointed. The message from Lee and Wong’s speeches to Parliament was clear: we sort our problems out behind closed doors, and when everything has been discussed internally, let the public know what our results are. The public’s involvement in the accountability process is to be limited to being a spectator.
The government has called on the country as a whole to participate in the effort to find Mas Selamat. Neighbourhood watches have been formed to find him, National Servicemen of all units and ages have been activated in the search. Our whole country, as our top leadership has pointed out, is invested in this incident. TOC gives this effort our fullest backing.
However, the corresponding level of accountability to us, the public, has been shambolic.
The government’s responsibility to account extends also to the debacle following the breakout: the slipshod way in which information was held back from the public and released in dribs and drabs, and the high handed and patronizing way it has responded to requests for more information.
To now frame the question as whether or not Wong should resign for Mas Selamat’s escape out the toilet window is a deliberately unhelpful narrowing of the issue. To frame the issue this simplistically borders on the insulting. To see the current error as merely that of a terrorist running out of a toilet would be myopic to the point of willful ignorance.
A broader measure of incompetence
The country only found out four days after he escaped that he had a limp, six days later we found out what he was wearing on the day he escaped, seven days later the country was told that he had a mole. A few days after the news of him having a limp was released, the government qualified this by saying that the limp was only visible when he was walking quickly or running.
To top off the patchy flow of information, many TOC spoke to felt condescended down to by the accusations of our complacency by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, and disappointed at the lack of leadership Lee Hsien Loong displayed, breaking his silence on the matter only after his father spoke, 11 days after the escape.
Wong singled out blogs ‘expressing anger and in some cases, abuse’. TOC does not think the anger and disappointment we feel at the government’s high handed and tardy communication is limited to the blogosphere. If he thinks the fallout of this debacle is limited to the internet, he is more firmly cosseted in his ivory tower than we thought possible.
Over the past months, journalists TOC have spoken to in private have expressed their frustration at the government releasing information in a trickle. Even PAP Members of Parliament (MPs) were galvanized to ask the government sharp and uncomfortable questions. MP Inderjit Singh came close to hinting that a resignation from the highest levels of Cabinet could be warranted, highlighting the level of accountability expected from a corporate CEO.
Magnify this sentiment several times, and that comes close to explaining the frustration people on the ground feel.
Lee Hsien Loong cited incompetence as one of the criteria for asking a Minister to resign. If the flow of information in the days after Mas Selamat’s escape was not incompetent, then our government has a very high threshold for incompetence.
Conflicts of interest, preemptive exoneration, and a gross lack of accountability
One of the hallowed maxims of justice is that ‘justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done’. An extension of this maxim is the principle that ‘no one should be a judge in his own cause’.
As a government that prides itself on the rule of law, the amount of conflicts of interests in this episode is staggering.
Clarissa Oon, a writer with the usually uncritical Straits Times was moved to note that there is going to be ‘lingering doubt’ over the ‘independence of the three-member COI’. She even went so far as to say that it ‘must seem odd and potentially dangerous to some observers…that the Home Affairs Minister personally appointed a committee to investigate a breach in his own ministry’.
TOC has previously pointed out glaring conflict of interest of having Wong Kan Seng’s subordinate, the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Dr Choong May Ling on the Committee of inquiry. She is a senior Administrative Officer with the Ministry of Home Affairs and oversees security policy. Wong has essentially appointed the judge overseeing his cause, and what more, one that is subordinate to him.
Of greater concern to TOC is the prejudging of government’s much touted disciplinary processes, which they claim will commence shortly. This was their response to the question by opposition member Chiam See Tong, who asked if heads will roll. This disciplinary process has been circumvented by Wong Kan Seng’s exoneration of Director Internal Security Department (ISD), and by PM’s exoneration of Wong Kan Seng.
The reasons given for their discharge from liability are shocking. Wong Kan Seng said of the Director:
“Director ISD met me and told me that he accepted responsibility for what has happened and apologized. Having known him for many years, I told him that I have full confidence in him and he must carry on.”
There was no public accounting for the responsibility Director ISD bore in the Mas Selamat debacle. Instead, he has been exonerated through private conversation.
In light of this, how is the public supposed to retain confidence in the upcoming disciplinary proceedings? The top brass have already been let off before proceedings have begun.
Wong Kan Seng’s exoneration of Director ISD after a private talk with him makes a mockery of accountability. Compound this with PM’s exoneration of Wong Kan Seng after discussing the matter with him in private and that mockery becomes a travesty of justice.
How must it look to members of the public when you ask the accused whether he is indeed guilty, and then you adopt his word as your judgment?
The national disgrace of Mas Selamat’s escape has been compounded by the PAP’s tendency towards the original sin of politics: conducting business behind closed doors, away from the critical glare of the public they are meant to represent.
The country’s loss
“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job” President George W Bush infamously said to Michael Brown, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after that agency’s incompetent response to hurricane Katrina. George Bush is now suffering one of the lowest approval ratings of any President in US history.
While not nearly as willfully blind as George Bush, Lee Hsien Loong’s government seems to be giving him a run for their money.
Mas Selamat’s escape did not ‘automatically’ qualify Wong for resignation. However, the subsequent incompetent, opaque, and arrogant way the government dealt with the public has made the name Mas Selamat a symbol for much more than the ludicrous initial oversight. The anger the public feels on hearing that name is now directed in part at the government’s attitude to this crisis.
Previous controversies like Temasek’s investments in Shincorp and the Suzhou Industrial Park collapse made spicy talking points in coffee shops. Criticism of the government’s accounting to Singaporeans (or lack thereof) in those cases was limited to a pool of people who were largely already negatively inclined towards the government in the first place.
However, the whole country is currently invested in the search for Mas Selamat. The government’s lack of transparency is thus going to be felt as an affront by every single Singaporean.
We believe that a fundamental overhaul of how the government accounts to its citizens is necessary. It is going to be a tall order to put these processes in place. This is a road the government cannot embark upon unless its sincerity is taken seriously by Singaporeans.
To be fair to the government, it needs to get on with the job of governing, and that is going to be hard to do with public anger at this episode at boiling point. Members of the public now indelibly associate Wong with this sorry episode in the nation’s history.
Lee has no one to blame except himself. Wong misjudged the extent of public anger by not offering his resignation early on in this episode, and Lee compounded his mistake by standing doggedly by his side. The government is now stuck with an electoral millstone around its neck with a name carved into it: Wong Kan Seng. It is going to have a hard time implementing any concrete accountability measures without them being viewed with cynicism.
At the end of the day, Wong and Lee’s recalcitrance is bad for the PAP, but worse for the country.
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What I feel is that whether the opposition is credible or not, its not for us to judge nor predict till he/she is elected to see the full potential of his/her capabilities.
Nobody would expect a highly paid minister to push all responsiblities away to the lower ranks while he still happily gets to enjoy his position without any accountability or whatsoever, even though he has openly apologised for the screw ups.
Without a good percentage of opposition members in parliament, incidents like this will happen again and again, because check and balance was never there in the first place.
This was an excellent article that said what every Singaporean happens to be thinking. Wong Kan Seng has acted in such a way that if he was not be blamed for the escape of Mas Selamat, he has to be held accountable for his subsequent actions.
I love the way in which the government is doing its best to get everyone to look at the work of the ISD and the rest of the Home Team in the “Proper Context,” which is a translation for – you can’t get upset over a tinny thing like this. What they forget is that this is not a tinny thing. We have utterly no evidence that Mas Selamat is an evil terrorist determined to destroy Singapore. The man was never brought to trial. However, the government announced that inspite of not having enough evidence to convict him in a court of law……he was too dangerous to be left to roam around as a free man. However, now that he’s escaped….it’s no big deal.
So here is the question that I’d be interested in asking. Is Mas Selamat actually dangerous? What evidence do we have that he was planning to do the things he’s supposed to do? How can it be necessary for him to be locked up without trial but at the same time necessary to see his subsequent escape in the “Proper Context.”
Tang Li,
Is Mas Selamat dangerous ? If so, he should bomb and do whatever terrorist activity by now. No need to bomb plane, just bomb public transport or private vehicle and say he done it. Up to 52 days, and yet nothing from Selamat. Did government intentionally blow Selamat out of proportion of his terrorism potential ? To be precise, is he a terrorist at all given lack of trust and credibility of government.
Is those Maxist Conspirators dangerous and guilty in 1987 ? How are they dangerous when they act in the interest of helping those who need help.
Is Francis Seow gulity or traitor ? If so, why does a scrupulous figure end up being a visiting fellow at Harvard Law School ?
Is Dr Chee so dangerous as the LHL want to fix opposition party and buy supporter vote ?
There are more instances of cases that ISD is misabusing the authority. Of course, we know very well who in charge of ISD. The very same Joker Lee that tell the world no high government office holders should be held accountable and responsible. So should we expect joker not to abuse authority ? Oh, I forget no wonder his HOJINX wife is not held accountable for ShinCorpse’s pathetic billions dollar loss because no one should be held accountable over anything because this will stifle risk-taking.
God must be blind to let such incorrigible joker and his clowns running Singapore. God must not be ‘complacent’ to let this continue.
The opposition parties should get together and initiate an online petition demanding the removal of WKS!
Your TOC readers will I daresay, gladly sign?
Total incompetence for ISD not to fix the Grills in a DETENTION centre since 2004!!! The ISD Head MUST GO. WKS is useless and the people know it. Worse of all, we have PM who does not know the ground. THey learn not from the Malaysian Elections where the internet played a strong part in helping (not solely)bringing about change. The attitude towards the Citizens is Absurd and INSULTING! Now they want to use this as an excuse to build another detention centre using tax-payers’ money again !!!!!
Hi all,
I am sure that are MP’s who go the TOC for a does of reality from ground zero.
well if you are reading this, Please advice on our reserves and not wait for the instruction manual and script to be handed to you.
Many people on the ground are DYING to know.
If ministers have a protection that is shielding for them from complying to the demand of the people to resigns, then I doubt other ministers will ready fight and work for the benefits of people. These ministers will be more encouraged to take higher risks and people who are govern by them will suffer if he or she makes any mistakes.
Singapore always being a safe heaven for people in minister position. They are protected and can not be blamed, then what is the point of democracy? We are the boss of our country or not?
If any great mistakes, like the escape event, who is the mastermind of the terrorist activists, what happened if he successfully execute a major terrorist attacked in Singapore? What happened then? who really suffer? When economic when flashing down the toilet, more poor citizen suffer and no one is to blame? Remember, this time round because Prime Minister Lee stand up for Wong, if this thing happens, the people of Singapore will no longer looking for people in the ministers to be blame but the Prime Minister!
Mark my word!
To be perfectly honest I see Mas Selamat’s escape as sufficient grounds for WKS’ immediate resignation. We’re talking about one of Singapore’s most wanted terrorist here, and this escape could return and haunt us in the near future in the form of a terrorist attack. Given his fat million dollar paycheck, I do not think it’s unreasonable for the taxpayers to assume that a mistake that compromises national security on such a scale should ever happen.
And this is not even taking into account the ridiculous aftermath of public accountability that you have mentioned. PAP should have known that in order to justify such salaries, there should be absolutely no room for mistakes. So it’s kinda funny now seeing how LHL is trying to reason his way out of this one.
Also, I’m quite disappointed with how the opposition members dealt with the inquiry. Makes me wonder more and more if WP is merely a mole for the PAP than an actual Opposition party.
I think PM Lee as good as said there will not be any accountability to the losses of GIC and Temasek Holdings. It is now called calculated risk taking. Throw a dice, it shows one instead of six – what to do. I want all my CPF money at age 55. How? Migrate only?
The now ex-superintendant of the detention centre is not ISD personnel. What was he then? Police, Army or Prisons Dept?
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a 6-man GRC or a 15-man GRC. The only minister that I still have respect is Mr Tharman. Any others I will do my best to vote him out of office.
A wake-up call is long overdue. The disconnect between the ruling party and the people cannot be allowed to widen further. They were given the mandate and responsibility to run the country, not to rule over us.
I don’t want to wake up one morning and find that the reason why our reserves are not made public is because there’s little left. Where in the world do we find both public and private institutions gnerating not just healthy surpluses/profits but record surpluses/profits year after year? Even town councils have a billion dollars in surplus! Due to efficiency or just sucking the people dry? How much profits does NTUC generate from its diverse business each year and how much did they use to benefit the people?
I feel that the current ministerial team that is the highest paid ever does not warrant my respect at all. Then again, how can good they be since the team leader is of doubtful quality? Over a short span of time, he has committed numerous faux pas (mee siam mai hum, fix opposition and buy votes, what to do it’s happened). Where’s the leadership when the crisis happened? Working behind closed doors to resolve issue quietly? Wait for father to provide advice all the way from the other end of the globe? Show courage by going against the tide of public indignation to condone incompetence?
I am not worried about selamat’s escape. I am more worried about how the government handle our reserves given that any misdeed or mismanagement will lead to no one accountable for it.Whether before or after LKY is gone,that makes no different, there is no transparency at all,remember our beloved president Ong queried the details of our reserves and the crap answer provided by GCT.So from this mas selamat lesson,the true colours of the top elite high pay ministers is exposed.They rule the country half heartedly, always thinking of $$$$ in their mind.
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and thus clamorous to be led to safety, by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”
H. L. Mencken
WKS, you have my vote of NO confidence! Even if you are not to blame that Mas escaped, the way the home team handled the aftermath creates doubts in the competence and ability to ensure Singapore’s security. Someone up there must be really confused! Were the pants hanging on the toilet door or worn by Mas?
Yes WKS, the home team did a great job protecting Singapore from terrorist attacks IN THE PAST (according to you and given that no incident occurred). It’s the future we are concerned with given that the same person is left in charge of the mess.
I would think that a resignation is a “win” for the JI but then there is a need for the Minister need to be accountable. Do we have to wait until a bomb goes off before deciding if he was liabile. What we have seen here is the pushing away of responsibilites and accountabilities.
Worse, the whole episode had seen that decision was already being made (ie: ISD chief has assurance from DPM and PM had already talk thru with DPM before the COI in parliament).
the PM able talked about responsibilities and recovery actions. It already about 2 months and what results have we seen? Maybe only the GC and some lower runks officers biting the bullet while the higher authorities went away scot-free.
what’s new?
the government is full of double standards..
pay can rise, hand outs to old folks cannot.
citizens leave called quitters, all the children all live overseas.
got problem the grunts get fired, but the heads nothing happen.
the list goes on and on and on. sometimes reading what our leaders say in parliament makes me wanna PUKE. money cannot buy everything.
hi everyone,
If a revenge hit happens in Singapore and innocent people get killed, what then?
the way in which there was such a lack of accountability over this incident, i’m even more convinced by the conspiracy theory that Mas Selamat is not the danger that he was made out to be.
the title of him being the #1 terrorist could possibly just a show in the first place, to tell the world (or perhaps specifically, other foreign nations/global MNCs with a vested interest in SEA/Singapore) MHA is doing a great job in handling the JI threat?
A resignation from WKS amount to a “win” for the JI. However this being said accountability of the Ministry is equally important. Today, those who bites the bullet are the lower rung officers while the top got away scot-free. Free from responsibilities and accountabiliy.
The COI is the worse joke as everything had been decided even before the COI was out. The Director of ISD shows more balls than his superior by preparing to take responsibilities.
I think the whole saga indeed have caused a dent in the ppl trust in our security agencies though.
The thing is now we gotta move on with our lives now and still keep on the lookout for Mas Selamat.I see no point we keep pointing fingers and blaming ppl.
Everyone of us make mistakes there will always be of no perfection in running a country.
But,this episode is far from over until he is captured.
Ppl mouth will still be talking,the govt or even anyone of us cannot make them shut their mouth.
But indeed,speculations will not be of any help either.
has anyone seen today’s ST? fascinating.. they reported on the “debate” about government accountability, and it was obvious which side they were partisan to. that, in itself, i can accept. what really irks me is that they chose to conflate the issue of MS’ escape with the way his manhunt was attempted. since the escape could not have been under the purview of WKS, they exonerated him completely… which, i think, would be fair if that were the whole of the matter.
the problem is of course that everyone feels, and with good reason, that the manhunt and publicity was very poorly handled. and when things have gotten that far down the line, surely the one solely in charge of what the press was divulging of MS is the responsibility of the minister. i am appalled by the stance our local paper is taking, and considering that the published press still has a certain moral authority to the masses (much as i despise the ST, it’s true), people who haven’t really considered the issues as separate will inevitably be bound to agree.
i don’t want to nitpick, but i believe it is necessary to have a website that chronicles all of the government’s misadventures… and of course, putting it all out in the open, the government is free to address and rebut those claims if they can. that would be responsible and direct opposition. maybe a list of each and every pertinent issue that makes the citizens unhappy and hence, make the MS issue a lightning rod for government criticism (as the ST quite astutely observes), then links to each and every relevant political blog entry that critiques that situation.. people need a definite reference point, i feel, and diametrically opposite would be most useful if only to provide a comparison.
Actually, the issue of the ‘conspiracy theory’ has not been cleared up. Of course WKS simply waived it off as rumour. I think he should have shown some evidence to prove that theory wrong, once and for all.
So far no evidence of him escaping the detention. A cctv clip would have proven the case, but cctv wasn’t recording.
Perhaps the COI should consider the following:
- show the last medical report of MSK. Hopefully it is a few days before he escaped, to show that he was in good health all the while.
- allow the guards who were watching him to be interviewed by the media, as they were the only ‘witnesses’ watching him just before he escaped.
- allow his family to be interviewed by the media, so they can say when was the last time they saw or spoke to him.
- present a couple of ‘inmates’ who saw MSK on the day of escape.
The ‘conspiracy theory’ was supposed to be debunked by the COI report, but the report seems to lend support to the theory due to the lack of evidence. I think the Ministry would do well to prove the rumour wrong once and for all.
Hi Ireadpapers,
Please look out for TOC’s response to the ST’s appalling coverage. Coming up soon! =)
total disbelief, incredulous, zero credibility
antz ,
“Everyone of us make mistakes there will always be of no perfection in running a country.”
That’s not the point. There is no perfection and that is why CHECK AND BALANCE OF INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTY IS ALL THE MORE CRUCIAL AND CRITICAL to ensure no misuse or complacency happen.
We did not ask for perfection, but transparency and accountability of government.
Did you not realize that we have been asked to give blind trust to GOVERNMENT? Look, the ISD, GIC, Temasek holding, and many government organization are shrouded in secrecy and information become non-disclosurable when pique. The problems are that we smell of trouble and complacency and abuse of authority when it is given leeway to do everything they like in the dark UTIMATELY WITHOUT ANYONE AT THE TOP RESPONSIBLE AT ALL (AMAZING ? Isn’t it). This is very concerning. I guess George Bush might have curse why he isn’t born in Singapore ! Because he will be paid millions without the need to shoulder any hiccups and responsibility simply he is not to blame as he delegate his task to someone else !
Look what happen to ShinCorpse, NKF, Selamat, HDB unaudit, EDB_NSW saga etc, how much more blunder can anyone tolerate consider that all these eventually becomes waste taxmoney that you and I have to bear whereas in the midst, the ministers and rest of top gahmen still get all time-never-seen-before salary and laughing their way to the bank and give rhetoric ?
What is the role and responsibility of PM, MM, SM, WCS, and ministers, president exactly ? The answer is very clear. They are not responsible and acountable for anyone or anything at all even though they are paid millions and even hold title (extra $$$$$$$$$) in GLC companies. Don’t find it ridiculous and amazing that it only happen in Singapore that promote itself as first world country ?
Now, putting thing in perspective, Selamat case simply the blown the coffers out and let the truth unfold. The verdict is: The government could and cannot be trusted to do their job. And instead, the people like PM, MM, WCS can talk cock and sing song even though it is clearly their sole responsibility not the typical Singaporean.
Now, do you really see the point ?
What most people do not realize is not so much of Selamat case that we should be overwhelmly concerning (as the ShittyTime want everyone to believe) but the overall lack of leadership, transparency, accountability and responsibility in the government that take care of our CPF ,reserve and investment and in area that sensitive and non-disclose to public. Selamat case is nothing but just one of tip of a iceberg. We expect a iceberg that will sink the Titanic (Singapore) ultimately, drowning the citizen in cold freezing water whereas coffers will ride in safety boat with warm and away from harm/
If Selamat is but anything to show, it show too much wayangness, pretentious, rhetoric and ineptness in the government. Isn’t this a Make-believe world we live in, as LKY says. Isn’t he senilely given us the hint ? So where are we going to wake up or has we already died ‘laughing’ ?
The attitude and ineptness in Selamat’s case may as well expose their vulnerabilities and incompetence in managing the affairs of the state. Substance not image is what citizen expecting. Fact and truth not rhetoric is what citizen seeking.
Kudos on a well written article. The leadership has failed the nation. LKY mentioned complacency and I agree with him partially. He has thus far not proposed a solution to that. I shall not wait for him to say it because it is probably hard for him to do so, having dismissed that the idea as a “western liberal idea” – back in 2001.
Let me explain. How many of those who are posting on this blog has ever voted at a GE, Presidential Election, or by-election? We seem to go to the polls every 5 or so years, and ever since I have been legally able to vote, about 26 years ago, I have voted exactly once (and I am proud to say that I voted for the opposition).
Why did I have but one chance to vote in 26 years? Blame it on the ridiculous system called “walk over”. I proposed a solution to that when I put myself up for consideration as an NMP – see http://harishpillay.livejournal.com/2864.html, although it was dismissed by none other than the same bloke in the center of the current controversy, KS Wong and Co – see http://harishpillay.livejournal.com/1867.html.
We must get rid of walk overs which means that each and every one of us get to vote every time. In one simple stroke, complacency is reduced (perhaps removed), accountability is restored. Not sure if this petition is useful, but it has been there for a while now. I would like to have more people to sign that. I am sure that the cabinet will not listen to the petition, but at least we should start the work on fixing the problem ourselves and get the publicity machinery working. We can bring accountability back into government.
Harish
An Open Letter to Low and Middle-Ranking Civil Servants in Singapore
For years, you have toiled for the goods of Singapore and the government. You were the bloods, sweats and tears who made possible the Signapore story and the PAP franchise.
Now, be fearful. Be fearful because the MS incident has shown that you will be the scapegoat should anything adverse happen. Today, it is the escape of a dangerous terrorist. Tommorrow, the economy may flounder and that’s the end of the Singapore story.
You will have to take the blame and bear the responsbility because nobody at the top will. They will not bear the blame. They will punish you. Unless you are high ranking and have the protection of someone up there.
Be careful. Fear for your lives and livelihood. One screw-up and you are dead meat.
Anyone care to reveal how many time he get to vote so far ?
For the start, I get to vote only ONCE in 1980s in Bukit Timah and that’s where good president and governance is around. After which, is all walkover. I never has a chance to vote thereafter because of GRC. GRC is flawed as WCS do not need to perform or get voted out, just need to show his sickening face and put on a deceptive smile showing his naiveness and innocence in all-plain angellic white attire, as do rest of the expensive coffers.
Seriously people, were any of you actually surprised by the outcome?
It was a foregone conclusion the minute MSK ran away. From the “bite me” style of i am sorry to the PM’s “Bo piah” reply. To LKY, it is the fault of the people for expecting too much from Govt.
Frankly, all the while it has been PAP is the best, we do not make mistakes so pay us like mad. Then when things screw up, you peasants expect too much from us…COMPLACENT!!!!….
I mean round after round of elections people keep getting their focus shifted from the real issues and focus on getting their “Slavery bonus” then nothing anyone can do right?
If anyone can do a compliation of the price the peasants pay after each and every election…then you will know for a fact that whatever crap which you receive before the election, you will pay back 10 times more.
MSK escape is a small thing. Even if he comes back to bomb and kill people, the same crap is gonna come out of the propeganda machine… Citizens are killed, let’s unite and be strong…. Nothing is ever ever going to happen to anyone within that clique.
Nothing has ever been accounted for and nothing will ever be accounted for.
Accept it and do the right thing the next time round.
Or you could just focus on receiving the “F**k you” bonus and keep getting F^*ked…your choice.
There is a obvious way why PM Lee is protecting WCS and indicates that no ministers should be accountable of honest mistake. You see, it is a mean to protect himself of incompetence and lousy leadership. By allowing WCS to resign due to popular public demand, he fear that it will set a precedence whereby the citizen has the power to dictate the regime, not the other way round as is currently done.
So why should PM Lee fear if he is doing excellently ? Not unless he is one pathetic useless clown that cannot perform but promote because he is a clown prince due to nepotism, Why he refuse to concede to demand of the citizen but rather come out excuses to move on should be apparent. Because he knows that he may as well be next booo-out consider how much follies he and his regime have done. Billions goes unaccounted for in the name of nation building (ShinCorpse etc). Foreigners overwhelm job market to detrimental of Singaporean’s prospect and future even though foreigner is more likely due to cheap labour than real talent. GST to help the poor endup helping the minister and gahmen more (Note the 7%GST applies to item, so even if inflation (high price), they earn even more more !)… Minister being pay astronomical salary without astronomical performance but average performance.
Yes, they can hide their motive , but they cannot run. It is not difficult to see through these coffers because their patterns of engagement are always the same and predictable.
Living in Bukit Timah GRC, unable to vote. Used to live in Thomson, never got to vote either.
Two good friends of mine voted for their first time while living in Manchester, England during the last British GE. How ironic is that.
in the first place, what sort of corporate culture comes up with such ridiculous screw-ups? why shuldnt top management bear responsiblity for such failings?
Question: If the Home Affairs Minister is a member of, say, Workers’ Party, do you think the Government’s stand will still be the same, or an entirely different scenario will play out, possibly with ministers and MPs calling not just the minister involved, but the entire leadership of WP to resign from office?
While I do not support the call for Wong Kan Seng to resign over this fiasco, I agree with TOC, as well as NMP Siew Kum Hong and others that at least a tender of sincere apology should have been made. No one is beyond erring. Even the most well-audited procedures may fail in some unexpected circumstances, although in this case, what the COI has revealed is rather glaring and unexpected of a nation that prides itself on having foresight and being meticulous. As others have said, to which I agree, it’s not perfection that we expect from our leaders, but integrity, transparency and accountability. A basic expectation is that we are honest enough to admit that we have erred, humble enough to seek forgiveness and a mandate to carry on, and bold enough to accept any punishment that may be accorded.
It’s already unfortunate, from the way these events have unfolded, that the ministers involved seemed more concerned about defending or justifying their actions by downplaying certain implications, than accepting the realities and the magnitude of the consequences, which if applied to any man in the street, would have seen that man lose his job and being slapped with civil or criminal punishment. What’s even more unfortunate is that the blame seems to fall squarely and fully on certain officers/guards in charge at that point of time, who seemed the most worthy of sacrifice. Although I do not rejoice at the fact that the punishment rests solely on these folks, hypothetically speaking, if the officer/guard in charge happens to be closely related to the ministers involved, would that again affect the choice of punishment?
At the end of the day, it all boils down to the values that these ministers subscribe to. If all that matters is their personal survival and those closest to them, if all that matters to them is numbers and not morals, this is what we can & should expect.
I am very sure some of the old guards who have passed on, those who have served with integrity, humility and passion without the need for a paycheck matching CEOs & top professionals of their days, these would shake their heads if they were alive today, and they are rightly entitled to do so.
Failure. Total Failure.
Next election I hope to see the same case as in Malaysia right now. Had more than enough of this government.
I have to thank MSK, if it were not for him, I guess many singaporeans would still be in la la land ;)
Now that the truth is out, at least we all can know the cookie cutter response our Elites will provide for every Screw up.
If MSK is really a TERROR, and is believed to be threat to Singapore, I believe the royal forces should be on their toes and leave no stone unturned, or even have a bounty out on him.
Isn’t that why they locked him up without trial ? Because he is a MAJOR TERROR ? Should SINGAPORANS locked themselves at home not that he is out there,and wait till he is caught as he is a MAJOR TERROR?
No footprint, No CCTV, open window, conflicting and delayed reporting.
Sounds like the perfect storm, where everything a escape convict would want.
reminds me of Humpty Dumpty or the emperors new clothes
I really have not much to say as all those comments before this have already just about expressed how we netizens feel. But I know that they don’t give e f_ck. They might not know how to keep a terrorist in custody but as what the Minister has said we need to look at the track record. Just look at how effective they are in handling any treat to their power. All cameras and recording devises work with backup too. They don’t give a shit about how you feel. Lets face it, we will be in for more surprises come 2011. We are progressing from denial of basic human rights and freedom to oppression. And as usual we will just carry on by saying “what to do it happended”
They keep harping on what they have achieved. Going by that rule, JBJ, FS, CSJ all had good track record before they choose to oppose. Why were they taken to task, why does the high standard apply only to them. At the end of the day, I have no respect for you. In my eyes you are in the same category as Marcos, Suharto, Idi Amin, Mubage and other likewise great leaders. I wait for the day when I can spit on your grave.
does those guard had a say on not having a grill on the window and the parameter wall near the fence. He escape through the window and climb onto parameter wall and jump out. So isnt it that the security there itself is full of loop hole and camera not even working!!!!! whose fault?????
Can only sympathy those poor guards….
Read this, guys …
Good Leadership, High Principles, …and High Pay… by Diary Of A Singaporean Mind.
A very good reminder of how Wong Kan Seng himself demanded accountability from others.
An excellent article. Very well written and to the point.
Keep it up, TOC!
Wong Kan Seng demanding accountability from others:
“To decide whether this was an innocent mistake, Singaporeans must know the answers to these questions. In the interests of transparency and accountability that Mr Low upholds, he must share with Singaporeans the answers that he received from Mr Gomez”
- Wong Kan Seng, May 2006
“Low cannot brush aside this episode and say just move on. This is a serious matter. It cannot rest here.”
- Wong Kan Seng 2nd May 2006.
Source: Diary Of A Singaporean Mind
Dear Andrew Loh,
That’s why I asked, would the scenario play out differently if the minister involved is from the opposition party? I am sure not only will the above lines be spouted like a standard Govt response, we will also hear a chorus of name-calling from various backbenchers and MPs, like “wayang”, etc.
Goh Chok Tong:
“We have an understanding that if a minister is defamed and he does not sue, he must leave cabinet. By defamation, I mean if somebody says the minister is on the take or is less than honest. If he does not rebut it, if he does not dare go before the court to be interrogated by the counsel for the other side, there must be some truth in it. If there is no evidence, well, why are you not suing?”
Wong Kan Seng, why don’t you sue every blogger who’s calling you dishonest, without integrity and without accountability?
Ex-PAP Supporter ,
they don’t have to sue anybody anymore. All they need to do is to go for the quick and easy summary judgement just like recently father and son have done to FEER. That speak very well of how credible and honest they are in taking the shortcut and foolproof way to buy quick result. Of course, the way the son carry himself so far if ever been scrutinized by a high-grade lawyer will surely bring the fall of Lee’s dynasty. Now, they will find some excuses of going for quick trial with reasons like they won’t be free to attend court case.
“It’s the Kangaroo Court. What to do ? It happened.”
TOC , can you do a simple poll on
how many people believe the COI report ?
why does everyone talk only about complacency when its plainly obvious that the physical fencing and the way the CCTV upgrade was done is really an issue of lack of COMPETENCY ?
When an old man aged nearly 85 in charge of this little red dot,all these are to be expected.
WE should expect more to come!
The only people not holding themselves responsible are THE LEADERS RESPONSIBLE themselves! It speaks volume and they feel fine to be at odd with their citizens!
patriot.
Well folks – you get what you vote for !
We have titanic leaders [self-proclaimed], who draw titanic salaries, but when the the sailing got rough, they blamed icebergs.