Lapses were not systemic, says MHA

[Boyboy]

Lapses were not systemic, says MHA

 

YOUR editorial yesterday, 'Were failings systemic?' questioned whether the breach of security at Whitley Road Detention Centre (WRDC) is a 'systemic contagion or the personal failing of only certain staff', and 'the appropriate level of culpability (that) should be drawn'.

 

As Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng has explained in Parliament, the Committee of Inquiry (COI) did inquire into all aspects of the circumstances relating to the escape of Mas Selamat at the WRDC, including whether the lapses were the result of individual action or omission, or were they due to systemic issues.

 

Although the COI made recommendations to strengthen or improve the WRDC's systems and processes, it found that the custodial protocols and procedures of WRDC to be generally sound. The principal security lapses occurred because specific individuals had failed to observe these protocols and procedures.

 

For instance, it was the WRDC Superintendent's wrong decision which resulted in the failure to secure the toilet ventilation window, which in turn enabled Mas Selamat to escape.

 

These were specific faults, not a 'systemic contagion'.

 

As DPM Wong also stated, the Ministry of Home Affairs will be taking action against the officers responsible for Mas Selamat's escape, including not just the junior officers but also the supervisory and management levels.

 

There is, therefore, no basis for the editorial to suggest that 'it is usually small fish that get fried'.

 

There is a due process to be followed and the outcome will be made known in due course.

 

Toh Yong Chuan

Press Secretary to

DPM and

Minister for Home Affairs

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For the record, this was what our editorial said: 'If it is determined there was only one weak link, at junior escort level, then the people should stop carping about why it is usually small fish that get fried.'

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Sto...ory_230802.html

Edited April 25, 2008 by Boyboy

[Gearoil]

These are the eventual results if you run a place with a 'climate of fear'....you can restrict the blame only to a certain level and nobody dare to question the top...

 

I do not pity those who were sacked neithier do I pity the entire population if they get the eventual backlash from this escape....becos they were told ( many, many times) if you continue to be allowed to be ruled under a climate of fear...you have no option but to be subjected to all these 'injustice'!

 

Things have a way to come back round to haunt those who think that as long as I am comfortable why should I risk it all?

[Typhoonz]

Tell ah wong to punish himself first lah... Lead by example mah... Stop bloody hiding behind ah loong lah...

[Zniper]

tis is how our P*P works... so guys, u noe who to vote for during another voting few yrs later... dun be scared of having new rulers may not work as fine as tis, but tink of wat if the new rulers tink more for the people??

[Header]

No security / operations audit - if there is, the covered stairway and the toilet window will be corrected.

 

No drill on what to do if lost sight of prisoner - if there is, it will not take 4 px to open a toliet door.

 

No drill on finding prisoner - if there is, info released to public will be complete and not piecemeal.

 

No SOP and no audit and a complanecy culture from top level downards. If these are not systematic, what is??

[Boyboy]

what is systemic is the way in which the u-know-who hangs on to power, at great cost to the people, the nation, and eventually, themselves

[Typhoonz]

Think they are ones that are complacent...

[Header]

I will do the same if I were him. Dont u love ur family???

Or naive pple think he loves fellow citizen.

[Scoots]

Folling the rationale of our PM,

 

Rice is rice.

lapses are lapses.

 

Systematic or sporadic, a lapse is still a lapse.

Edited April 25, 2008 by Scoots

[Boyboy]

i meant the party, actually

 

individual? haizzzz...

 

then again, there's one individual who's like that, and his surname ain't WONG

[Apollo]

tis is how our P*P works... so guys, u noe who to vote for during another voting few yrs later... dun be scared of having new rulers may not work as fine as tis, but tink of wat if the new rulers tink more for the people??

 

ya.. for me i think after so long, things haven't got better only worst. SMLJ peace and prosperity. work @ss off bank account also kosong, all kena hidden taxes, every few weeks and month come curi my paycheck. no point having more guud years if they not gg to b my guud years.

 

bolt some1 else.. how else bad can it get when already so bad.

[Scoots]

I think the "More Good Years" wasn't referring to us....

Edited April 25, 2008 by Scoots

[Robin]

i dun think the lapses are just a combination of factors that allowed MS to escape.

 

but as they correctly identified, the most damning mistakes were three fold: the guard leaving MS out of sight, the absence of a grill on the window and the poor design of the fence.

 

but i dun agree when they say that there is 'no basis for the editorial to suggest that it is usually small fish that get fried'. ...

[Scoots]

Ya lor ....

 

Usually, small fish taste better fried mah .... I mean, whoever heard of steamed ikan bilis? Or steamed silverfish?

[Boyboy]

u mean that u agree with the editorial?

 

well, it's when "press secretary" replies to the press like this, that u know the letter writer/reporter, has struck a raw nerve

 

the truth hurts

 

but i think some of them up there must still be in denial, putting up a front for everyone to see. maybe when they go home they will crack and cry. who knows?

 

i may sound harsh or evil or anti-gahmen, but seriously, i just hope for them to wakeup their idea, not for some reform party to take over as ruling party. singaporeans may indeed be complacent, but it all starts at the top

[Boyboy]

i like my bigger fish fried also

[Robin]

 

..... yah, he's e DPM... too big to fit into the frying pan

[Robin]

its good to have a wake up call now and then ... keep ppl on their toes