| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: It was an event that jolted one in two Singaporeans out of their sense of complacency, if results of a straw poll by TODAY are any indication.
Out of 200 respondents, 103 said they have become more concerned about security issues since Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre a month ago.
Said homemaker Tan Mei, 52: "If such a dangerous man can escape, it proves that security here may not be water-tight. I have become more alert and vigilant now."
Student Khairunnisa Khairudin, 15, said: "I used to feel safe outside, even late at night. But with a terrorist on the loose, anything can happen."
Respondents were chosen randomly for the poll, conducted informally via telephone, email and street interviews early this week. Each was asked three questions: If they thought Mas Selamat was still in Singapore, how confident they were in the search efforts, and if they were more concerned with security issues now.
The lesson from this incident, said political scientist Antonio Rappa, is that Singaporeans must be reminded the "terrorist threat is very real".
"When terrorists are arrested by authorities, people don't associate it with the fact that security threats still loom large even in Singapore. Only when something like this happens, everyone suddenly wakes up and becomes security-conscious," he added.
A sign of increased public vigilance has been the slew of reports of sightings or leads on Mas Selamat that authorities have received.
And Dr Teo Ho Pin, chair of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law, is glad for the increased awareness. "This is an opportunity for Singaporeans to understand that everybody must chip in to strengthen our security."
A large part of respondents' concern seems to stem from worry over an act of retaliation against Singapore — especially as 64 per cent, or 128 of those polled, feared the fugitive Jemaah Islamiyah leader was no longer on the island.
Said engineer Gordon Yeo, 34: "He had plotted massive terror attacks against us in the past, and if he has now linked up with his JI comrades again, he may plot a revenge attack."
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng underlined the authorities' belief that Mas Selamat is still hiding in Singapore, and that they would not stop searching until he was found.
Some 82 respondents, or 41 per cent, expressed confidence in the massive manhunt efforts by the Home Team and the army. Said Ms Esther Yeap, 25, a public relations executive: "I don't think there is any reason to doubt the Government would do all it can, given the severity of his escape to the reputation, security and confidence of Singapore."
But others seem disheartened by the fact that a month has already gone by. Singapore is too small a place for someone to evade detection for so long, said finance analyst Nazirah Akhtar, 27. And many find it hard to believe Mas Selamat could have survived in a forested area for so long. Said IT consultant Loh Guopei, 27, "What has he been living on? Coconuts?"
Earlier media reports have highlighted Mas Selamat as someone trained in jungle survival and capable of surviving in harsh conditions.
Some also asked if the authorities were too slow to alert the public — the media was only notified four hours after the escape on Feb 27, and while posters were subsequently put up and MMS sent to all mobile phones, there were also revisions to the fugitive's description, for instance, made over time. - TODAY/fa
|
