J.B Jeyaretnam pulls no punches on DPM Wong Kan Seng over Mas Selamat’s escape

April 30, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Current Affairs, JI escapee, Reform Party 

J.B Jeyaretnam, the Secretary-General of the Pro-tem committee for the Reform Party, has pulled no punches on DPM Wong Kan Seng over Mas Selamat’s escape, calling for no less than the latter’s resignation, and even suggesting that the entire cabinet could be considered culpable for this serious security lapse.

The full text of his Press Release is as follows:

The Prime Minister’s speech in Parliament defending his Minister is full of platitudes. His argument appear to be that because the minister was not personally at fault he should not be held responsible. This flies in the face of vicarious liability and the doctrine of responsibility.

It is quite clear Mat Selamat’s escape was facilitated by sheer negligence and incompetence. For the Minister to say the escape was the result of a human error is to cover up the negligence and incompetency. Any calamity can be be attributed to human error only if it is the result of an error of judgment on the part of the person whose act resulted in the calamity. That is clearly not the case here.

The Minister should accept responsibility for the negligence and incompetency of those under him. That is clearly the law.

The Minister should of course resign. A case can also be made out for the entire cabinet to resign under the doctrine of collective responsibility if the escape posed a very grave threat to the security of the country which the government seems to think otherwise.

The only decent thing to do is for the Minister to offer his resignation. The cabinet can then decide to accept or reject. The Minister should resign and a by-election held for his constituency at which the Minister can submit to the judgment of the voters by seeking re-election along with the other members of his team. If the Minister does not at least offer to resign he will be seen as more interested in keeping his $2 million yearly salary than in doing the right thing.

My take on the Press Release:

I fully agree with what JBJ has said, and he has said it far better than our Opposition MPs in Parliament like Low Thia Kiang.

As JBJ has suggested, Mas Selamat’s escape cannot be consigned to mere human error or oversight on the part of individuals. Contrary to a recent Straits Times Forum page letter penned by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the security defects at Whitley Detention Road Centre (WDRC) identified by the COI report and the most probable method used by Mas Selamat to escape clearly indicate that there are systemic flaws present in ISD’s operational culture – flaws that most likely have been allowed to grow over a long period of time.

Since DPM Wong has been the Minister for Home Affairs since 1994, he clearly is liable for allowing complacency as well as these systemic failings to creep into ISD’s operational culture. He should therefore resign for this serious security lapse.

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Comments

4 Comments on J.B Jeyaretnam pulls no punches on DPM Wong Kan Seng over Mas Selamat’s escape

  1. Perturbed Citizen on Wed, 30th Apr 2008 4:23 am

    2. I also fully agree with JBJ’s assertion.

    Any blunder as grave as allowing the a South-east Asian chief of the JI terrorist networks to escape in such an easy fashion (after painstakingly captured by the Indonesian authorities and handed over to us and detained for two years) affects not only national security and safety of our people but also endangers the security of neighboring and regional countries. Therefore, the minister whose custody Mas Selamat was entrusted to must bear the full responsibility for such a blunder. It cannot merely the responsibility of the guards or the lower rung ISD officers at the Whitley Detention Centre.

    The total lack of professionalism in ensuring a high standard of security at Whitley Detention Centre, as reflected in the COI Report, is too glaring and unbelievable. It shows a systematic and prolonged negligence at all levels rather than an incidental human error of the lower rungs. It was definitely a confluence of many factors beyond the control of the lower rungs that caused this big blunder of the century.

  2. Daily SG: 30 Apr 2008 « The Singapore Daily on Wed, 30th Apr 2008 11:28 am

    3. [...] Posted by The Singapore Daily on 30 April 2008 MSK WKS Debacle – The Daily Backtrack: Nyeh – Sheep City: We love you Chua Lee Hong – A L V I N O L O G Y: Mas Selamat’s escape in LEGO – Sgpolitics.net: J.B Jeyaretnam pulls no punches on DPM Wong Kan Seng over Mas Selamat’s escape [...]

  3. Honour on Wed, 30th Apr 2008 6:10 pm

    4. I agree with what Mr JBJ has said. There is a difference between erro of judgement which is forgivable and negligence which is accountable. Disregard of SOP, non-instalment of grills, no CCTV, roof of walkway joining the fence – these are clearly negligence. Massive State funds and manpower spent on failure to catch a dangerous terrorist – surely the accountability is higher than the kuching-kurups.

  4. SGDaily Roundup: Week 17 « The Singapore Daily on Sat, 3rd May 2008 3:03 pm

    5. [...] We love you Chua Lee Hong – A L V I N O L O G Y: Mas Selamat’s escape in LEGO – Sgpolitics.net: J.B Jeyaretnam pulls no punches on DPM Wong Kan Seng over Mas Selamat’s escape – Singapore Angle: Mas Selamat’s 2001 escape, 17 tonnes and preaching to the [...]

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