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Taken from today's 'Today' newspaper...
'Don't lose heart, Home Team' Christie Loh
[email protected]INSPECTOR Tay Yuanqi is "sort of fed up" with the jokes and hardhitting words circulating in cyberspace about how the authorities let Jemaah Islamyah (JI) leader Mas Selamat Kastari escape from a detention centre three weeks ago, during a trip to the toilet. The 20-year-old in the Police MRT Unit let out a small laugh when recalling spoofs created by netizens, such as one mock e-poster of Mas Selamat's 13 possible disguises. But at the thought of direct attacks on the Home Team, Inspector Tay's face turned serious. "When such things happen, we can't blame them for saying all this," he told Today. "But we're also making a lot of effort. Many troopers have been deployed on 24-hour shifts and sacrificing time with families." Twenty days into the islandwide manhunt, the officers, not surprisingly, are "tired" — a word repeated by all whom Today spoke to about morale, on the sidelines of the Home Team Workshop yesterday. Typically, some 1,000 officers attend the annual conference; this year, turnout was 700 due to the manhunt. To the officers at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who is also Home Affairs Minister, offered rallying words of encouragement. "No doubt his escape has dented the reputation of the Home Team as well as that of Singapore," he said, and there have been "comments by some who tried to discredit our officers". But the spirit of the Home Team — comprising agencies such as Internal Security Department, Civil Defence, Prison Service, Police, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, and the Central Narcotics Bureau — remains "most alive" and Singaporeans are "united" in the hunt. Said Mr Wong: "Indeed, without excusing the lapse which led to Mas Selamat's escape, our Home Team officers should not lose heart for they have done much to be proud of." To underline that public trust remains high, Mr Wong read out an email he received from Singaporean Antonio Rappa, who wrote: "I am sorry that this awful character escaped and hope that he will be caught soon. In any case, please know that Singaporeans like myself and my friends stand solidly behind you." Such fortifying words came even as netizens — what some analysts say are a "small minority" — have been vocal in calling for heads to roll and taken digs at the authorities. Foreign media have also picked up on the online chatter. Last week, a piece in The New York Times zeroed in on how Singapore, which is "as lean and mean and flexible as the rapid-response military the Pentagon dreams of", appears to have "met its match in Mr Mas Selamat". Such reactions and criticism are to be expected for two main reasons, said media professor Ang Peng Hwa of Nanyang Technological University: One, the unexpectedness of the incident given the reputation of Singapore's bureaucracy, and two, the detainee managed to escape despite a limp. "Maybe this is part of our problem of over-success," said Associate Professor Bilveer Singh of the National University of Singapore's political science department. After years of national emphasis on success and being number one, a shocker like Mas Selamat's escape brings out those already "cynical about striving for excellence". At the same time, Mr Singh said, "this system doesn't give much opportunity to poke fun at (authority). So when people have an opportunity, they have a gala of a time". He stressed, however, that those who appear to be reacting online in an "unconstructive" or seemingly gleeful manner form "a very small minority" and probably would not want to see the system collapse. And in a way, the wry humour some Singaporeans see in the situation is "a backhanded compliment", according to Prof Ang. The spoofs inspired by the getaway could reflect Singaporeans' feeling of "safety" in spite of a dangerous man being at large, as compared to, say, the Sars epidemic when there were few or no such jokes. The escape aside, the Home Team has a good report card, Mr Wong noted yesterday. Last year, the crime rate fell by six per cent per 100,000 people, while traffic fatalities dropped to 4.68 from 5.63 in 1998. And as operations become more complex, Mr Wong said there was a need for a "Home Team plus" in which the man in the street has a part -- such as in the current manhunt. He highlighted the "considerable bottom-up mobilisation by various community organisations" over the last fortnight, including several groups that volunteered to distribute more than 210,000 pamphlets on Mas Selamat – a reflection of how Home Team efforts to engage the community have paid off. "Such a Home Team plus comes of age when all who call Singapore home, feel they have a stake in the safety and security of the country and of fellow Singaporeans," said Mr Wong. "This is an ideal worth pursuing by all Singaporeans as stakeholders. The Home Team will work with them to achieve it."
...so our callings for someone to take responsibility and for greater transparency is 'unconstructive' and forms only a small minority (evidence?)...
Okay then. I've got no further unconstructive comments to make.
Crap from the police and shorty wong kan seng.
they f**ked up..
but what the hell do you want them to do?
go commit suicide?
Originally posted by the Bear:they f**ked up..
but what the hell do you want them to do?
go commit suicide?
Don't just say the above here, go tell it to their face.
livin in denial.
no.. i'm asking you.. what you want them to do besides go try to catch the terrorist?
sit around, cry and then commit suicide?
then you'll have something to scold them with again...
if anything, THINK for a change..
this is a small kar kia.. planted for the press.. made to toe the party line..
do you know at all that ALL the operations fellas kena leave frozen?
ALL the personnel, even SCDF, kena mobilised to go catch the fella?
if you have any anger, go direct it to the correct people like the Minister of Hobbit Affairs, the Dwarf Puny Minister who is bloody arrogant about it and brushed it off...
if you have any anger, don't direct it at the kar kias who kena every weekend burnt still kena forced to put on face to public...
and if you still have any anger, and have the intelligence to use that anger correctly, REMEMBER this incident.. and take the POLITICIANS (not the civil service.. they are just doing what has to be done and following instructions) to task..
everyone has the right to be angry.. but unthinking, unfocused, undirected anger is destructive and serves no purpose other than to show the impotence of the person..
use your anger.. and do the right thing..
most of all, stop directing it at the wrong people.. they're just doing their best, doing their jobs..
THINK about it.. then go do something constructive..
Originally posted by the Bear:no.. i'm asking you.. what you want them to do besides go try to catch the terrorist?
sit around, cry and then commit suicide?
then you'll have something to scold them with again...
if anything, THINK for a change..
this is a small kar kia.. planted for the press.. made to toe the party line..
do you know at all that ALL the operations fellas kena leave frozen?
ALL the personnel, even SCDF, kena mobilised to go catch the fella?
if you have any anger, go direct it to the correct people like the Minister of Hobbit Affairs, the Dwarf Puny Minister who is bloody arrogant about it and brushed it off...
if you have any anger, don't direct it at the kar kias who kena every weekend burnt still kena forced to put on face to public...
and if you still have any anger, and have the intelligence to use that anger correctly, REMEMBER this incident.. and take the POLITICIANS (not the civil service.. they are just doing what has to be done and following instructions) to task..
everyone has the right to be angry.. but unthinking, unfocused, undirected anger is destructive and serves no purpose other than to show the impotence of the person..
use your anger.. and do the right thing..
most of all, stop directing it at the wrong people.. they're just doing their best, doing their jobs..
THINK about it.. then go do something constructive..
umm . . . . . . nobody is angry here, so talk so much for what, uncle. Time to go for afternoon nap.
Originally posted by the Bear:no.. i'm asking you.. what you want them to do besides go try to catch the terrorist?
sit around, cry and then commit suicide?
then you'll have something to scold them with again...
if anything, THINK for a change..
this is a small kar kia.. planted for the press.. made to toe the party line..
do you know at all that ALL the operations fellas kena leave frozen?
ALL the personnel, even SCDF, kena mobilised to go catch the fella?
if you have any anger, go direct it to the correct people like the Minister of Hobbit Affairs, the Dwarf Puny Minister who is bloody arrogant about it and brushed it off...
if you have any anger, don't direct it at the kar kias who kena every weekend burnt still kena forced to put on face to public...
and if you still have any anger, and have the intelligence to use that anger correctly, REMEMBER this incident.. and take the POLITICIANS (not the civil service.. they are just doing what has to be done and following instructions) to task..
everyone has the right to be angry.. but unthinking, unfocused, undirected anger is destructive and serves no purpose other than to show the impotence of the person..
use your anger.. and do the right thing..
most of all, stop directing it at the wrong people.. they're just doing their best, doing their jobs..
THINK about it.. then go do something constructive..
Ehh...read carefully again leh. Which one of us here are scolding or criticizing the civil servents?
I'm just annoyed at the fact that while we are all asking for more transparency, more accountancy, someone to take responsibility, etc, the government-controlled media had the cheek to brush us off as 'minority' and 'unconstructive'. Heck...they even dare to say that the online commotion is a sign of our faith in the system and a 'backhanded compliment'. They even compared this to the SARs crisis, which is a totally different thing altogether. SARs crisis we cannot blame the government because it was a global crisis that occured throughout the world and cannot be prevented. The escape of a high-profile limping terrorist is a local joke!
This is what I find ridiculous, but I never say the Home Team not good what..where got scold the wrong people? Piangz...