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SINGAPORE : Singapore's Law and Second Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam has said that perfection in security is an ideal, but in reality there is no fail-proof system.
He said that going forward, Singapore has to review these lapses and learn from them. Mr Shanmugam was responding to questions in Parliament on Monday about recent security lapses in the country.
In February, Mas Selamat Kastari fled from a detention centre through a toilet window.
Then in June, there was an attempted jail-break at the Subordinate Courts and a passport mix-up at Changi Airport. A man cleared security and immigration and left Singapore using his son's passport unknowingly.
Dr Teo Ho Pin, MP, Bukit Panjang, said: "Sir, a more disturbing phenomenon is the confluence of factors leading to the security lapses. It shows that our lines of defence are not robust and independent."
Indranee Rajah, MP, Tanjong Pagar GRC, said: "If it was a case of just one incident caused by an error on the part of one individual, there would be less cause for concern. However what we've seen in recent months is a series of several errors committed by several individuals across three different departments."
Mr Shanmugam acknowledged there was a failure to comply with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). However, he added that these issues should not be over-simplified.
He said: "If we look at the three cases within their operating context, we can see that one type of mistake is not the same as another, even if the common thread is persons failing to comply with SOPs.
"To equate this case as the same as that of the Mas Selamat's escape would be quite wrong. Why is this distinction important? I make it not to excuse any mistake or to trivialise one over another.
"But we need to highlight it because such a distinction is built into the design of all risk-based security systems."
Mr Shanmugam reiterated these are individual episodic lapses and not systemic practices.
With 140 million travellers passing through Singapore's checkpoints every year, he said about five cases of people using wrong passports are detected every day.
While there is no guarantee such lapses will not happen in future, Mr Shanmugam said the aim is to minimise failures and maximise success. He said that to expect otherwise is unrealistic. - CNA/ms
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