The mystery over how an accused terrorist with a limp escaped from a tightly secured detention center in Singapore will be revealed tomorrow, seven weeks after Mas Selamat sparked the biggest manhunt in the country’s history.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng (黃根成) is scheduled to deliver a statement in parliament disclosing the findings of an inquiry committee amid public criticism and ridicule on the Internet about how the suspected leader of the city-state’s wing of the Jemaah Islamiah militant group managed to get away.
The committee, chaired by former High Court judge Goh Joon Seng, was formed last month to investigate.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) is also scheduled to make a statement on “government responsibility” at the parliamentary session.
Mas Selamat, accused of plotting to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport, was sent to Singapore in 2006 following his arrest by Indonesian police.
The 47-year-old Mas Selamat was held in the Whitley Road Detention Center under the Internal Security Act that permits indefinite incarceration without trial.
It has so far been made public that he was being led to a room for a visit with family when he asked to go to the bathroom and apparently left through a window.
Questions filed by lawmakers were published yesterday in the Straits Times. Chiam See Tong (詹時中), one of only two opposition members in parliament, has asked how a top terrorist leader whom Singapore and Indonesia had taken great pains to apprehend could escape.
Teo Ho Pin (張和賓) and Low Thia Khiang (劉程強) sought an update on the ongoing search. Teo, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law, has asked if more can be done to get the community to be more vigilant and alert.
“I hope we find out what the weaknesses are but, more importantly, what further action is being taken to strengthen our security system, and what are we going to do now that Mas Selamat is still at large,” Teo said.
Among other questions are the estimated cost of the search and whether Singapore’s reputation abroad has been affected by the escape.
Singapore sought the help of Interpol, and there were subsequent reports that Mas Selamat was sighted in Indonesia.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
RSS