Chiam has forgotten Mas Selamat questions in Parliament: DPM Wong
SINGAPORE - The issue is three years old, the questions surrounding it dealt with over several parliamentary sittings. So why is Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Chiam See Tong revisiting the issue of Mas Selamat Kastari's (picture) 2008 escape now?
This was Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng's take on Mr Chiam's call for voters to hold Mr Wong - who was then Home Affairs Minister - to account for the debacle.
The matter, said Mr Wong yesterday, was addressed in April 2008 when the Committee of Inquiry's report was released. "I stood before Parliament for three hours answering questions. Plenty of opportunities were given to the MPs to ask questions, and subsequently in several other Parliament sittings in which the subject of Mas Selamat was also raised ... which I dealt with directly."
"There were many other sittings, and there were as many opportunities as possible, and indeed Parliament didn't get dissolved until the 19th of this month," added Mr Wong, who had previously noted that Mr Chiam had only asked one question in Parliament on the affair. "Three years have passed! I remember April 21, 2008 to April 19, 2011."
Mr Chiam has recently asked why heads did not roll following the escape of the Jemaah Islamiyah leader from the Whitley Road Detention Centre on Feb 27, 2008. Not true, Mr Wong pointed out. "Indeed they have. I think he has forgotten. He was present in Parliament after the disciplinary process ... Look up the records, he must have heard; I answered the question of heads will roll."
Mr Wong, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, acknowledged that public dissatisfaction over the security lapse remains high but reiterated he has taken responsibility for it.
"It's not for the minister to say 'I punish you this, that and other'. No. I'm not in charge of the staff, the promotion, the punishment, the rewards and the pay. There is a process. There is a group of people in charge (of this)."
He added: "I think I went over this before and I don't want to make another long statement over this ... I think it's best that I give (Mr Chiam) the benefit of the doubt that he has forgotten."
Mr Wong also called for the incident to be put into perspective: Despite an estimated 160 million people - or about 400,000 daily - passing through Singapore's 17 or so checkpoints, "Singapore remains a safe place, people feel secure".