anarchistic democracy.

And what a way to start the first article.

As Singaporeans would have probably read by now, a series of gaffes had been the cause of Mas Selamat escaping from detention. PM Lee has highlighted that “[w]e should not encourage a culture where officials and Ministers resign whenever something goes wrong on their watch, regardless of whether or not they are actually to blame,” and “the basic issue is whether the person is culpable. If so, we must act against him, however senior his position.”

Sure. Let’s take his word, and list out point by point what went wrong.

* A female guard was asked to escort Mas Selmat to toilet, where it was probably not the best personnel of choice.
* The guard hesitated to call for help or enter the toilet.
* CCTVs were down.
* The window literally gave Mas Selmat a window of opportunity to escape. The grill which was supposed to be installed was not due to “miscommunication”, and the superintendent decided that removing the handle was sufficient to prevent any prisoners from escape.
* Terrorists were held at WRDC, which had no history of detaining terrorists or dangerous personnel. (Political detainees are hardly dangerous compared to terrorists.)
* There were no patrols around the perimeter.
* The Gurkas did not stick to Standard Operating Procedures. (What they were was not elaborated)
* No exercises were practised to ensure that the security controls were effective.

Now, the the 3 big issues sticking on my mind are these:
1. CCTVs – You can leave it on to catch opposition party candidates lie, but conveniently not leave it on for classified dangerous personnel? Who was in charge of this? “Upgraded”? Come on. You need backup systems.
2. Unfixed window – This was a ridiculously obvious flaw which the superintendent thought unimportant. Someone explain to me why this person should not be held responsible.
3. Placing terrorists at a place which is obviously ill equipped to deal with just boogles my mind. There was the obvious Changi prison, but perhaps because the terrorists were detained rather than imprisoned, it is more politically suitable to place at WRDC. Still, a major oversight.

So is someone culpable? Based on the definition found on Wikipedia, I think there are definitely people blameworthy. The issue that nobody will be criminally charged seems fair to me, but as for work negligence, it is clear that some people have not done enough, and it is only responsible for the directors (government) to show accountability to the shareholders (citizens) to show that dismissals for the crucial in-charges (at the least, the 3 I mention above) are executed. No need for names, but actions need to be taken.

Sources:
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/249667.asp
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/249660.asp
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/249670.asp