Q: How do you feel, how does ISD feel, now that it took Malaysia’s help to have Mas Selamat arrested?
I’m glad that he is now arrested. We were informed of the arrest soon after the arrest by the Malaysians on the 1st of April and I also reported that to the Prime Minister. As I have said before, that so long as we can find some leads on him, some time or other, we will find him. He was arrested by the Indonesians in Feb [January] 2003 arising from the leads developed by the ISD and shared with the Indonesians. Then he was released prematurely when he was serving his sentence in prison for an immigration offence. And, again from ISD’s leads which were shared with the Indonesians, the Indonesian Police arrested him in Jan 2006. Eventually, he was sent back to Singapore.
Q: How do ISD officers involved and yourself feel?
Well of course we are happy that he has been arrested. ISD officers worked very hard even after the setback last year which was a painful lesson for all of them. They did not give up and they continued to work at it and they looked at every possible lead that they had. And for this particular one, they developed this lead on their own and eventually, they shared that lead which they think is the most credible on,e with the Malaysians. The Malaysians worked hard on that, and eventually found where Mas Selamat was and arrested him. I must say that the excellent work done by the Malaysian Special Branch is really highly commendable. Between ISD and MSB, there’s a long standing co-operative cordial relationship and as a result of this kind of relationship, we were able to keep each of our country safe and also contribute to the safety and security of the region. And it is the same co-operative relationship that Singapore has with our partners in the region.
Q: When do you expect the Malaysians to release him so that he can be brought back to Singapore?
The Malaysians want to continue to interview him and we’ll let them do the job and when they feel that it’s time to send him back to us, we’ll be happy to receive him back.
Q: Earlier you’ve said that you have informed the Prime Minister when he was first arrested. What did the Prime Minister say?
The Prime Minister said, “Well, it’s good we finally got him.”
Q: How about the security situation now? What message would you like to give to Singaporeans? Like step up or step down the security?
Well, I think Singaporeans must not think that just because Mas Selamat is arrested and now in Malaysia, the threat of security, the threat of terrorism, will not be there anymore. In fact I’ve said it for years, that the terrorism threat is real and that we are a prime target and therefore there is no question about letting our guard down. We must continue to be vigilant and continue to implement the security measures we have put in place. Singapore is a small country. It has a long coastline. It is porous and it’s easy for people and for goods to be brought in or even to leave Singapore. So we must not assume that just by the arrest of one person, Singapore will be safe from terrorist threat. No. Apart from Mas Selamat, there are other JI members who are still out there and we haven’t got them and there could be many others that we do not know, and we don’t know where they are, who they are and when they will come into Singapore. So we must not believe that with the arrest of Mas Selamat, we can let our guard down.
Q: Could you tell us how he escaped from Singapore? At this point, what you know.
From the very brief information that was provided, he swam across the Straits of Johor with an improvised flotation device. That is very brief information, we don’t know all the details and until he is brought back to Singapore and ISD interviewed him, we don’t have much information on that.
Q: How is the morale now for ISD and the Home team?
Of course we are very happy that one chapter is closed but we have learnt our lesson and we will continue to do our work.
Q: And when he’s brought back to Singapore, where will Mas Selamat be detained? Is he still under ISD?
He will be detained in Whitley Road Detention Centre. Today’s Whitley Road Detention Centre is very different from the one on 27 of February 2008. Many security measures have been put in place and that is the place we are going to put him.
