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Not infallible, says Lee

SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said that the City-State remains “different” from other countries, though its reputation for maintaining high security was not enhanced by the recent escape of Mas Selamat, a top terror-suspect, from “preventive detention” here.

The much-noticed incident occurred on February 27, amid celebrations here over the selection of Singapore as host-City for the world’s first-ever Youth Olympics in 2010. The bid was won on a number of counts, including the City-State’s presentation of its credentials for maintaining exceptionally high security standards.

Mr. Lee on Sunday said “we are not infallible.” However, the various agencies engaged in “the operation to try and catch” the fugitive were doing so in “very close cooperation” among themselves and “with a lot of resources.” He said: “I think we have a good chance of catching him, provided he is still in Singapore. [And] we have no reason to think that he has left.”

Acknowledging that Mas Selamat’s escape “has not done us good for [our] reputation,” Mr. Lee, however, said: “I don’t think people believe that we are just like any other place. ... We are different. It was a lapse. What to do? It has happened.”

Mr. Lee was seeking to reassure the international community about his country’s exceptional status, even as the people here, used to a high sense of state-vigil, remained preoccupied with this security lapse, now the subject of an independent investigation. Soon after the incident, Interpol had issued “an urgent worldwide security alert” for the arrest of Mas Selamat bin Kastari.

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