The Malaysian Police have a glorious past in battling the Communists, monitoring and preventing racial riots in a country where race relations seems to be at fault lines waiting for an incendiary spark to cause seismic rumble.
Most Malaysians finally found a reason to be proud of the Police force, not that we are not grateful for the personal sacrifice made by Police personnel in the discharge of their duties, the capture or should I say recapture of one of Asia's most wanted fugitive, Mas Selamat.
It is interesting to note that newspapers from Malaysia and Singapore have related different stories on the recapture of Mas Selamat. The Singapore Straits Times reported :-
Whereas, Malaysia's intel as usual seems to be more cryptic on the lead that led to the arrest, The Star reported :-
Curiously enough if Mas Selamat was arrested in the first week of April of 2009, this is on the basis of Najib and Lee Hsien Loong informal lunch meeting in Pattaya on the 11th April 2009 whereby Najib informed Lee Hsien Loong of Mas Selamat's capture, why did Singapore's Minister of Home Affairs in his speech trying to raise the morale of his troop on the 15th April 2009 said this :-
It is also a little disconcerting to note that, Najib and Lee Hsien Loong did not communicate with one another immediately after the arrest of Mas Selamat.
The Singapore's Minister of Home Affairs must be deeply embarassed if he pieced together the stories now coming out and realised that he has been kept out of the loop from his own Prime Minister.
For the time being, we will have to be contented with making speculations on what evidence led to the arrest of Mas Selamat, it is hoped that in future when the dust settles on the threat posed by terrorist, someone will publish an objective assessment on the story that led to the recapture of Mas Selamat and the role played by the intelligence community of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Having said that, my congratulations to the intelligence community of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia for the recapture of Mas Selamat and for showing us all that that you guys, despite the quiet arms race going on and the occasional dumb politics played out by politicians, have shown tremendous professionalism and it is good to know that there are sane people out there not interested in playing politics, working together to ensure that South East Asia is safe.
Most Malaysians finally found a reason to be proud of the Police force, not that we are not grateful for the personal sacrifice made by Police personnel in the discharge of their duties, the capture or should I say recapture of one of Asia's most wanted fugitive, Mas Selamat.
It is interesting to note that newspapers from Malaysia and Singapore have related different stories on the recapture of Mas Selamat. The Singapore Straits Times reported :-
"Intelligence provided by Singapore's Internal Security Department late last year led to a joint operation between Malaysia and Singapore's security agencies that eventually saw them arresting Mas Selamat in Johor in April."
Whereas, Malaysia's intel as usual seems to be more cryptic on the lead that led to the arrest, The Star reported :-
"It is learnt the fugitive, who escaped from a Singapore maximum security detention centre on Feb 27, 2008 was arrested in Johor together with two others by Special Branch officers following intelligence sharing between the police forces of Indonesia and Singapore."
Curiously enough if Mas Selamat was arrested in the first week of April of 2009, this is on the basis of Najib and Lee Hsien Loong informal lunch meeting in Pattaya on the 11th April 2009 whereby Najib informed Lee Hsien Loong of Mas Selamat's capture, why did Singapore's Minister of Home Affairs in his speech trying to raise the morale of his troop on the 15th April 2009 said this :-
"It has been and continues to be a testing time for the Department. I understand that at one time or another, officers from all the various commands have been deployed to work on the case which for some, involved taking on an entirely new type of assignment for the first time in their career. I have been regularly updated on the Department’s efforts to track Mas Selamat Kastari down. I have no doubt of your determination. I have confidence that with patience – which has always been a virtue of the Department – we will recapture him. The keen sense of fellowship and camaraderie among ISD officers, of being one family through thick and thin, that I have seen particularly during this trying episode, will see you through this, and make all of you even stronger."
It is also a little disconcerting to note that, Najib and Lee Hsien Loong did not communicate with one another immediately after the arrest of Mas Selamat.
The Singapore's Minister of Home Affairs must be deeply embarassed if he pieced together the stories now coming out and realised that he has been kept out of the loop from his own Prime Minister.
For the time being, we will have to be contented with making speculations on what evidence led to the arrest of Mas Selamat, it is hoped that in future when the dust settles on the threat posed by terrorist, someone will publish an objective assessment on the story that led to the recapture of Mas Selamat and the role played by the intelligence community of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Having said that, my congratulations to the intelligence community of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia for the recapture of Mas Selamat and for showing us all that that you guys, despite the quiet arms race going on and the occasional dumb politics played out by politicians, have shown tremendous professionalism and it is good to know that there are sane people out there not interested in playing politics, working together to ensure that South East Asia is safe.
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