Andrew Loh –
Almost a month ago, on 17 May, Swiss national Oliver Fricker and his suspected accomplice, Briton Lloyd Dane Alexander, allegedly breached the perimeter fence at the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) Changi Depot. The two men are alleged to have then spray-painted graffiti on one of the carriages of the trains.
A video of the incident was reportedly posted on Youtube the next day – 18 May – and the online community quickly picked it up and the video went viral on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and also on blogs and forums.
Amazingly, SMRT staff only discovered the act of vandalism two days later – on 19 May – after the act was first committed.
While online Singaporeans and netizens were shocked by the security breach, the SMRT kept its silence. And it continued to do so for the next three weeks. It was only on 8 June that it finally broke its silence on the incident with a press release (click here) which threw up even more questions about SMRT’s operational and security capability.
Many other questions have been raised by Singaporeans, both online and in the mainstream media and I shall not go into them here.
The SMRT’s three-week silence, however, is not what is alarming to me. The total absence of any comments or explanations by the Minister for Transport, Mr Raymond Lim, and the Minister for Home Affairs (MHA), Mr Wong Kan Seng, is what is more disconcerting.
Since the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York in 2001, the London bombings in 2005, and the escape of terrorist-suspect Mas Selamat Kastari from a Singapore detention centre in 2007, the government here, especially the MHA minister himself, has continually and regularly warned of the threat of terrorism in Singapore.
The government, in a 2003 White Paper on the threat of terrorism, revealed that members of the Jemaah Islamyah terrorist group had planned, as far back as 1997, to bomb Yishun MRT station in the northern part of the island.
The SMRT, in its press release about the security breach at Changi Depot, cited the London bombings as one of the reasons why it had beefed up security measures for our public transport system.
Indeed, constant daily announcements on our trains keep commuters on their toes and they are urged to keep a lookout for “suspicious articles” and to report them to SMRT staff. A video of how a would-be terrorist would carry out his plans is also shown in our stations.
Singaporeans can be forgiven if they felt a sense of siege with all these admonitions and incessant reminders.
It is in this context that the breach at Changi Depot should be seen – and why the prolonged silence of the two ministers who would be most alarmed at the security lapse at Changi is unacceptable.
While it may be explained that the ministers would be working behind the scenes to put things right, one would think that reassuring a jittery and concerned public would also be one of the ministers’ top priorities – and that they would do so promptly. After all, millions of Singaporeans use public transport each day.
The two ministers’ absence from the public eye the last three weeks reminds one of the Prime Minister’s silence for the first 11 days after Mas Selamat escaped in 2007 and the PM’s one-month absence after the minibond saga, which affected some 10,000 Singaporean investors, first came to light in 2008.
The Land Transport Authority, which owns Changi Depot, is under the purview of the Ministry of Transport. The minister thus should assume responsibility and assure the public that the security of our public transport system is sound, especially when we are told that it is a target for terrorists.
Keeping silent for such a long time brings into question the transport minister’s leadership in a time of uncertainty for Singaporeans and a trying time for the staff of SMRT.
Domestic security is the domain of the Minister for Home Affairs who has repeatedly reminded Singaporeans of the terrorist threat and of the need to be vigilant. The minister was roundly castigated when Mas Selamat gave his guards the slip and escaped to Malaysia. There were even calls for the minister to resign then.
Now, his leadership in this latest incident is called into question again.
As Minister for Home Affairs, no one is better placed than Mr Wong to assure Singaporeans that the nation’s security has not been compromised and that everything possible is or has been done to make it so, in light of the Changi Depot incident.
It would seem, however, that instead of taking proactive steps to reassure the public, the two ministers by their silence are raising questions about their competence instead.
Isn’t it strange that the government would constantly raise the issue of terrorism and national security but seems to have gotten all silent when a security breach has occurred?
Besides being shocked by the security lapse at Changi, Singaporeans should also be asking: “Where are Raymond Lim and Wong Kan Seng?” And for that matter, where indeed is the Prime Minister, who has not said anything about the incident as well.
Ironically, at the moment it seems Singaporeans are taking the issue of security more seriously than the two ministers are.
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No issue here as only ‘lesser mortals’ takes the MRT.
So what if a train load or two get blown up.
JUST ISSUE MORE NEW CVITIZEN CERTIFICATES TO REPLACE THEM.
This way SMRT saves money on deploying security staff.
Any incident, blame the cummuters/public, as despite repeated reminders, there not vigilant.
If I am not wrong, I think SMRT does not allow anyone to operate their cameras and viewcams within the premises of its stations.
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Probably WKS and RL are looking at ways on how to nab the fellow who posted the clip on Youtube after he breached the no-pics/video rule of SMRT.
If the ‘lesser mortals’ had listened to the ‘announcements’, they would have seen the grafitti n reported it immediately.
If the ‘lesser mortals’ had not video the grafitti n but it on youtue, no one would know.
ALL THE ‘LESSER MORTALS’ FAULT.
Let also us not forget the “silence” of the Environment Minister on the recent oil spill in the east.
BTW: What’s his name?
Wong Kan Seng is in the SHIT his boss is away on a private leave of absence,what can an ex commercial HR man do besides taking instructions from Bosses and be the Fall Guy when the time comes and it looks certain this election.
It seems that the minister don’t give a damn about security and public safety, terror attacks is tiny compared to their milion dollar salary. YES! Lets keep voting for incompetent PAP!
Do you all realize that all the MRT station is swarmed with CCTV cameras? It does feels like a complete totalitarian society. But they don’t bother put up more CCTV cameras at their depot, what a shame…..
Perhaps they’ve gone for french cooking classes overseas
Why is it that they have been announcing look out for suspicious characters for about at least 2 years now and its the station that could not control the perimeter of the train station?
Is it again no management is held responsible? Afterall, its the karkia that is at fault right? If the karkia performs well, who takes the credit?
regards
M Salamat
PAP ministers modus operandi
take cover,wait for storm to blowover, then come out and “talk cock”
Yeah Mr.Loh,you are right.When it came to the AWARE saga,those golden boy ministers were so awe-struck by it and quick to make comments.
It’s a ‘honest’ mistake, let’s move on.
When something MALU (embarassing) happened, taking cover is the wise things to do for the current ruling party. If everything turns out well and flourishing, rest assured they will be the first to step on stage, self-pat, give award and scream they are the best in the world. Yaaa..bad things keep silent, goods thing said it loud. Only then can they justify their undeserving million dollar salaries.
“Each of our depot spans a large area – for example, Changi Depot is about 25 hectares, and has a perimeter fence of about 3km.” – Choy Kin Chong, Head of SMRT Security, after vandals broke in.
“Singapore has a long coastline.” – Wong Kan Seng, after Mas Selamat escaped to Johor.
Same style. Small frogs in small ponds, but very well paid frogs nonetheless.
RL – busy planning new gantries, raising ERP prices, and monitoring COEs. Yeah there is no correlation between oil prices and electricity.
WKS – in KTV practising songs, ready to join Singapore got talents.
Wong Kan Seng was assessed as only of Deputy Secretary (DS) ability by Goh Keng Swee who was Defence Minister and Wong a civil servant, taking minutes at the formers’ meetings.
Raymond Lim was a dark horse to me when he suddenly got elevated to minster level. I understand his brother was a former ISD director.
The take away seems to be that such people are there because of some ‘kwan si’ reason, ability is secondary and can be just so-so. wHat’s important to LKY and LHL is their loyalty. Usual the less capable tends to be ‘loyal’ as they realised how their bread is buttered and would remain buttered only if the reciprocate with the right sort of behaviour.
what happenned to all the dogs patrol in this called ^protected^ places? i remembered when i was young..there used to be a red sign with the words protected places and a little cartoon showin 1 bhaii singh with a rifle pointin
whenever i watched a holly movies..i will see 1 guard with alsatian dog on patrol…
singapore is world BEST…with the highest paid ministers and the socalled BOOASTIN in every modern technologies equipment 1 can see or heard off..where are ALL this highends toys? no budget for energizer AA cells replacements perhaps?
What ever happend to Prof S. Jayakumar’s appointment in 2009 – as Senior Minister and also as the Co-ordinating Minister for National Security ?
With three ministers – each paid three million plus in annual wages – why should Singapore tolerate such short sighted failures, when higher standards are expected from ordinary Singaporeans ?
http://www.thegovmonitor.com/world_news/asia/national-security-in-singapore-relies-on-holistic-approach-says-minister-jayakumar-9635.html
http://www.cabinet.gov.sg/CabinetAppointments/Prof+S.+JAYAKUMAR.htm
Atobe 12 June 2010 What ever happend to Prof S. Jayakumar’s appointment in 2009 – as Senior Minister and also as the Co-ordinating Minister for National Security ?
With three ministers – each paid three million plus in annual wages – why should Singapore tolerate such short sighted failures, when higher standards are expected from ordinary Singaporeans ?
…………….
and if you asked the mental minister leekuanyew..(who also happenned to be the mainshareholder of smrt) he will tell you all..
you all peasants are complaincents and blind…if you see its happenned..why didn’t you peasants stopped the vandalisim from takin place?
and yes leekuanyew would had said…
do i looked liked an idiot who would take the smrt @ all? squzzin amon you poor peasants?
The Swiss National, instead of being charged in court, should be conferred an award on forthcoming Natioal Day.
This incident has taken the heat off another issue: There seems to be 2 separate instances of 2 groups of foreigners committing murder over a few hundred dollars.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/06/10/singapore-is-it-safe-anymore/
simple solution:
1) just blame the general public for their complacency…
2) the smrt person on duty that night will be fired…of cos the low ranking ones will the heat,while the top brass will just have to express regrets to the general public.
Wong Kan Seng and Raymond Lim should take responsibility for the breach in security and resign immediately
As spoken by 1/2 angmor mp palmer….
People should decide what kind of government they want for the next five years and not just base their votes on seasonal topics.”
He also dispels the notion that orders are passed down from the top during election season.
He said, “People think …that we read from a huge manual before going into an election and end up thinking the same way. It’s not true. This is probably one of the best examples of a collection of like-minded individuals who think along the same lines, believe in the same values and happen to come out with the same sort of ideology.”
As to why Singaporeans should vote for the PAP, Palmer has a ready answer.
“We have a tried and tested short- and long-term plan, and know which direction we want to take Singapore to,” he said.
See his complete answer here, as well as his reply to whether votes are really secret and what he thinks of the opposition’s chances.
…………………….
so mr palmer..what do you think this mrt security breach should be handled?
and where would you take singapooriums to? the IR casinos or the hantu island for our airforce to shoot as target dummies?
eer do ramon the lta minister and wongcantsink hav their manuals with them?
opps misspelt..menu with them..you know the instana buffet free menu what wine to drink with what foods they consumed..
thank goodness it is just paint.
What if it is a bomb?
Hehe..Vandalism meh?
Who knows maybe weeks later,they will announce this issue openly .,that this incident is a top secret task specially arrange by them with the 2 angmo.The purpose is to test our transport security and see how Singaporean react under such circumstances on security breach and they will praise some of you for being security conscious and for contributing wonderful idea on security coverage.
They may announce that this is also an effective way for them to tell their men not to be complacent.
As if this is the only instance of “I care less”…
BTW, the criterion for the well management of TOwn council is flawed:
managing the monies collected is also a criteria.
What is the point of losing them when you spend so much time collecting the fees?
where are they ??? you ask ?
they’re counting the millions of dollars by the 10$ notes daily, its more interesting than the smrt or what is happening ???
you guys voted them in and this is what you get, thrash….
These guys are smart-asses. Keeping mum is presumably a strategic move, to avoid drawing public attention to themselves, as people having a high level of responsibility over security issues.
But keeping mum can be seen as a show of cowardice, to avoid censure, or to avoid having to censure the management of SMRT for not paying enough attention to security issues.
How about giving us some comments, boys?
PM: Who’s fault?
WKS: Aiya, the people’s fault lah! So simple!
RL: Meeting over, let’s go drink coffee.
Michael 13 June 2010
PM: Who’s fault?
…………….
wongcan’tsink act deaf…
ramon act dumb….
PM: Who’s fault?.. I SAYS again..(shoutin ….)
wongcan’tsink pointin his pinnocio nose @ ramon…
ramon tryin to siam…alamak…cannot siamed… replied..eer..eeeh…ugm….
YES!.. jayakumar fault..he is the mata in short pants chief…
PM lee…pondered for a while..jayakumar..is he the same kileng i slapped before…
ok lets all BLAMED on jayakumar..1 kileng looked the same as the other kileng…
So, am right to say there is NOTHING we can do ?
They should just stop beating around the bush and put the blame squarely where the fault lies; i.e. the SMRT for not guarding the premises properly, and shorty Wong for allowing FTs and criminals into our little red dot, that is no longer safe as it used to be.
The SMRT CEO or their security chief should be replaced and shorty Wong should be fired for first allowing a limper prisoner to escape from his jail, and this time rapidly increased crime rate from overseas murderers and graffiti artists. Those responsible should also be caned in addition to the criminals.
It would appear that the PM, DPM and the Minister for Communications are just trying to avoid having to take any responsibility for the breach of security. So typical of the PAP. Take credit for anything that turns out to be good even though it might not be attributed to their efforts but avoid taking the blame for anything that goes wrong even when it is directly part of their responsibilities.
Our transport operators are making RECORD profits year after year. What excuse do they have for inaction?
security Management is not hired or paid to do the security guard job.
They are paid to ENSURE the security policies, systems and security guards do their job.
I see this as a top down failure.
A complete disaster.
Thank goodness the Failed Security system is uncovered before something worse happens.
1st world system?
u tell me.
George 12 June 2010
Wong Kan Seng was assessed as only of Deputy Secretary (DS) ability by Goh Keng Swee who was Defence Minister and Wong a civil servant, taking minutes at the formers’ meetings.
Raymond Lim was a dark horse to me when he suddenly got elevated to minster level. I understand his brother was a former ISD director.
……………….
and when gohchoketongue was promoted to take over as prime minister..many singapooriums asked… who is gohchoketongue? is he the hidden son of drGOHkengswee(restinpeace SIR!)…
nobody even know of gohchoketongue background or history..but we do know he promised us a world swiss standard and singapoor footballers hav a qualified round in fifa worldcup 2010(reminder courtesy of another forumer in another site in a galaxy not so far away…)
today is the year 2010..is ahmad fandi leadin a team in south afrika or is he havin a swiss cheescake in jalan eunos mendaki malay kampong shophouses? and the irony is..the same former leader who promised US so many good years ahead…is still in employment with singapoor peasant inc..drawin a monthLEE salary of more than $100,000 (well peanuts to him in his wife views..)
aiyoh yoh..pap still so THICKSKINned…
why complain ? you voted them in
live with it
We pay them multi million dollars a year to take credits and not responsibility cos they delegate all responsibilities to their deputies and civil servant. So why should they have to answer for it. For them resignations is not in their vocabulary. They can only remove themselves only when they are not standing for the next election or they are voted out.
So they do not fire themselves, only we peasants can fire them in the coming election. Lets do it.
I think both WKS and RL are hiding under their beds or inside their closets.
Useless ministers who dare not face up to their responsibility and accountability. And yet they are so well paid for what ? !
WKS will definitely be silent as he already had one strike down regarding the prison escape. One more strike he may have to step down. He should be SACKED !
One party system is no longer effective nor relevenat today ! We need a change !
Hulk, dun like that. Who knows, majority can accept their performance?
its the majority’s decision that decides, not the minority’s wishes or decisions.
so, which citizen belongs to this majority?
just live with it lor. give up or exit lor. its FATE. just give up. always.
My take on this is that those 2 monkey PAP ministers had a hard slap on their faces by the very old man during Cabinet meeting for farking it up real bad. Therefore, silence now.
I wonder whether the security master plans against terrorists drawn up by MHA has been audited by an external 3rd party outside the PAP ambit? That is, did they engage a global security consultancy to suss out the nitty gritty details to find blind spots?
i so sad, just when election around the corner, this kind of big fat BOO BOO and no hear from them / train co ceo appear on TV appologise wan.
like this where got good for the election?
make me so sad. aiya, hopefully the election come much later ,so people forget. like this good idea! yeah!
i suggest giving these champions a pay hike to compensate for their sacrifice to serve you better.
Didn’t LHL once asked where is the A-team that opposition parties had promised, that he said they looked more like the AWOL team? I must admit I snickered then at the non-ruling parties over that remark.
Now however, after elevating our ministers pay to “crazy” levels, we still have AWOL ministers. From the MSK saga, let’s wait another 1-2 weeks & see if “someone” will have the courage if not decency to utter the ‘Complacency’ word. At $2.5-3 million salaries each, there is about 227k-272k PER LETTER each.
singapore’s Safety is World Class right?
small is easier to manage.
Welcome Back TOC.
Look, they have to wait for their salaries to be banked in first. OK
If you miss paying a bill, you get pink slip reminders, miss reservist, you get arrested…
but being a minister you miss certain statements, its just fine…they are busy.
Because we all know WKS & RL have to work, be like the German Shepard and double-up as their keepers, then be the investigating officer and also look for pictograhpic evidence.
We have to give them time,all the work being done by 2 person only.
Ministers are just figure-heads who are good for giving speeches only. (and even then, the speeches are written for them by civil servants).
When it comes to the crunch and problems arise (such as this), they will conveniently disappear. When there is bad publicity, you can bet your last dollar that all will hide behind the civil servants. When something good to publicise, they will amazingly appear in the press… they are opportunists, nothing more
These are the people whom we elect to lead us ?? Please wake up all. When the ships sink, do you really trust these leaders to help you or do you think they will be the first to jump ship and leave us all to die..
think about it…
i am surprise he is still holding his position as a minister. this shows that the WHOLE PAP is just one group of RICh people helping one another and spending our money as they want.
its not possible to ask them to step down when they make mistake anymore, as they need to find someone to replace their VERY LOYAL MINISTER and to keep their secret behind us.
the only way left is to vote against them, they just dont give a damn on Singaporeans