The Myth of Mas the Supernatural

He walked out of the detention centre like David Copperfield, in broad daylight, leaving the guard guarding an empty toilet. This second act is like the disappearing act of a magician walking into a box but appears somewhere else. Pretty good magic show. There is also the belief that after burying a few pieces of bawang, he can literally become invisible. Now for the facts. His escape from detention and fleeing into Johore were anything but unusual. Ok, ok, the part about walking out of a detention centre with ace gurkha guards is still an unknown phenomenon. Subsequently taking a walk to Tampines may not be that difficult but physically a bit demanding on him. The hiding in a brother’s flats, no need too much intelligence unless it is a game of poker, both parties trying to second guess each other’s move. That means Mas came out on top. Finally, the make up and wearing of tudung to pass off as a woman, a piece of cake. Simply text book stuff. No need much imagination. So, where is the part that made Mas Selamat that extraordinary or supernatural? Or he is an expert in disguise, in escape from prison. Oops, escape from prison is not easy. Not many people have succeeded. He may be the only one in paradise to do it. This point could make him that extraordinary. Or is it the event or the circumstances made him extraordinary? They use to say that in the land of the blind, the one eye jack shines.

Definitely not enough

Loan shark harassment cases dropped 8.4% for the period Jan to Oct over the same period last year. Is this good enough? It dropped from 15,120 cases to 13,848 cases, or more than 1000 cases monthly, or 33 cases daily. Did I get the numbers wrong? 33 cases daily is a very intolerable number. In 2007 there were 9,400 cases, 2008 there were 11,400 cases and 2009 there were 17,900 cases. Numbers quoted from the media. My goodness, we have been living with so many harassment cases without knowing. With the publicity given to tougher police actions and more arrests, the number does not seem to be making any significant progress. Or the loan sharks are still ruling their turfs and their activities are as per normal. When will the harassment stop? Oh, never mind, there can never be no harassment. Some harassment cases are normal and expected. So, what is an acceptable number?

Singapore needs Paul Volcker

Dr Volcker, the former Fed Chairman, is in town. Hopefully the govt can bring him on board in some kind of advisory role to curb the madness we have been sucked into. Volcker is famed for his Volcker Rule which forbids proprietary trading and speculations by banks in the financial market. His fear of the menace created by reckless banks which came true during the financial and subprime mortgage crisis has led to the US curbing proprietary trading by banks. His experience on the ground is invaluable. The conflict of interest and unfair advantages of banks in trading and speculation is obvious but blind to those who see short term gains. Singapore has adopted this practice of allowing banks to be thickly involved in proprietary trading or with trading arms as an extension of the banks to dabble in more exciting adventures in the wider financial jungle. The only way to throw out such voyeurism which has ruined the American finance industry is to have a giant like Volcker to tell the super talents that they are going down a slippery slope of no return. There is still time to unwind the mess before the whole financial industry got sucked into the abyss and spin into thin air. The other main fear of the financial industry is the ingenious and crooked ways of writing pieces of papers for trading. Derivative trading is not much different from playing monopoly when everything is worthless and trading with worthless money. A return to real value, assets and industry is the key to return sanity to the intoxicated financial market. We really need a heavy dosage of Volcker wisdom, prudence and thrift policies. Would the super talents listen or are they too high in the clouds and not able to see the mess that the industry is in?

Mas Selamat - The story so far

Allow me to reconstruct the first three chapters of Mas Selamat's escape with the revelation of new information in the media. The first phase is of course the escape from Whitley Road. Then the trip back to his brother's home and finally the trip across the Causeway. The escape from detention centre is still a highly guarded mystery filled with amazing tales and adventures bordering on fiction. So far not much new information has come out on this. So nothing much can be added to it. The trip to his brother's flat in Tampines is interesting. It took him two days to reach there and still wearing his prison garb. How did he make the journey without being noticed or caught? He could not have done in it in broad daylight, too easily recognisable. He could not have travelled by car or it would take him only half an hour. This would narrow the options to walking by night when everyone is sleeping. And it took one or two nights, meaning that he would have to sneak along to avoid being seen, and his limping leg would have slowed him down further. Credit must be given to him to be able to complete the journey without being caught. Perhaps when everyone is sleeping also helped. The trip to the Causeway was much more easier. Now he was in full disguise with professional help. Dressed as a woman with a tudung will save a lot of trouble. Now he was likely to be driven to the Causeway in a car. Taking public transport will attract attention to his limping walk and it was not easy to walk like a woman too. Sitting in a car would be the ideal and a cursory glance by the immigration would not be able to detect much. And yes, a woman's passport is a must. Now, who's passport have been stamped with the dates on those few days? The idea of him swimming across the straits strapped with plastic bottles is best told in kindergartens for a good laugh. If he did not look like a porcupine, he would definitely be an attractive piece of avant gard art. No way was he going to get a hundred plastic bottles and the rafia strings to tie them together. He is not light and a bundle of plastic bottles would look like a mole hill. So far the story goes.

So sad the two Koreas are killing each other

The Choenan Incident did not start a war. Disappointing! The North Koreans categorically denied any involvement in the explosion of the ship. Both sides showed restraints in not pushing the matter further. Today, the North did not denied anything after firing 60 shells into a disputed island and killing and wounding South Korean soldiers and civilians. It claimed the South fired first. The South said it was conducting a military exercise and was firing to the west and not to the north. What is the truth, what actually provoked the North to fire ferociously at the South? Would the world know what is going on? One thing for sure, the two Koreans are going to kill each other. They have forgotten that both are Koreans. After all these years of negotiations, have they not worked out a list of things to do and not to do to prevent any break out of hostility? Did they not agree to inform each other of military exercises at the border to prevent any misunderstanding? It is sad that they are all out to get at one another, to destroy each other. Or could someone have fired directly into the north while the South was firing to the west as claimed? North and South Koreans, for goodness sake, don’t make a fool of your self for whatever reasons. You will both be obliterated should war breaks out.