Mas Selamat - The Aftermath

We're approaching the 2 week mark since Mas Selamat has escaped detention and all attempts to recapture the fugitive have been in vain as yet. The stories and hype surrounding this man is slowly waning while the authorities are unwilling to admit that he has indeed successfully slipped away.

This can only go four ways from here

1. Mas Selamat is caught in Singapore and sent back behind the bars
2. Mas Selamat is caught in another country, proving that he did manage to escape. He is sent back to singapore if an extradiction treaty exists, if not then he will be detained there.
3. Mas Selamat strikes back at Singapore with an act of terrorizing vengance, proving his successful escape and landing a blow on our nation.
4. Nothing is ever heard about him again, he is assumed missing and newer events slowly push him to the sidelines.

At this point, the last three possibilities are equally likely, while the first one is not probable for reasons i've already explained (see my previous posts "mas selamat is free" and "how much longer can mas selamat hold out").

This blog probably won't go on much longer as there really isn't much to say or keep updated about except that Mas Selamat is still missing. I could post rubbish or bad humor insulting him but it really isn't going to help anyone. I shall keep updated and post if anything new happens, so do check back once in a while for updates.

"Sighting" Mas Selamat | How Irrelevant Reports can Hamper the Authorities

Recently, there's been a lot of talk going around about people making reports about "sighting" Mas Selamat, having "Information" on Mas Selamat or knowing a friend who knows a friend who knows the friend of a friend's friend who knows Mas Selamat.

People, this isn't really all that helful.

Mas Selamat isn't going to be found that easily, so don't waste time with irrelevant information on him. Telling the police "I saw Mas Selamat on yesterday's evening news" isn't going to help much. In fact, it won't help at all and will probably just land you in trouble.

In situations like these, the quality of information is very important. If people keep sending in trivial reports that give no help, the police will not be alert to and if a real report comes in with useful information. I'm not encouraging people to stop looking out for Mas Selamat, rather I think that before reporting anything, we should stop for a moment to think whether this information is actually going to be useful to the police.

The weather has been rainy recently, and it has been hampering police efforts at searching for Mas Selamat. Rumors have already been spreading that this is a conspiracy theory, that mas selamat is actually already dead, that he got killed and there has been a cover up.

I personally have no say on the matter, except that if he's still alive then there is overwhelming possibility that he has already escaped. Nothing we can do at this point. Period.

How did Mas Selamat break free?

First and foremost, i'd like to address an issue with the owner of this blog http://masselamat.blogspot.com, which is (apparently) another blog pertaining to Mas Selamat claiming the title of an "Anti-Terrorist" blog. It's great to see other people getting involved in the dynamic blogosphere (even though you're getting PSAs, haha) but, do get your information correct as you might mislead your readers. For your information, that blog posted that Mas Selamat had been captured, which is not true at the time of this writing.

On a sidenote, for whatever reason google has entirely deindexed this blog which means I only get type in traffic and a little from the links that I've built. A real pickle, no doubt and I don't know of any surefire way to remedy the situation. A backlink or two would be nice.

Anyway back to the topic, I was wondering how exactly did Mas Selamat escape? After all, he is in a supposedly secure location as a wanted terrorist so walking out isn't exactly an option. Lets examine his profile:

Mas Selamat is...

• An escape artist, with previously successful breakout attempts in other countries.
• A former commando who underwent rigorous training.
• A confirmed terrorist who has crafted plans to bomb Singapore Changi Airport.

Bearing that in mind we can at least safely assume that Mas Selamat is quick witted, and fit and agile both mentally and physically.

Now let's talk about the detention camp...

• It's not a prison, it's a detention camp.
• Security largely unknown to the public, but we can safely assume there are guard on patrol and at the entrance.
• Fenced perimeters

Additionally, Mas Selamat most probably did not have any tools with him (he wouldn't be allowed to carry any, although he might have improvised and used some makeshift ones).

Now lets scrutinize the evidence that the press has presented to us and work from there. This is all largely hypothetical since we cannot verify the authenticity of our information but it's a place to start.

Mas Selamat has been in the detention camp for over a year and likely knows the place fairly well. By observing his surroundings, he can see the routes that guards frequently patrol and routes that they do not. He can also observe the habits of the guards, as well as their lapses in security. This would give him an edge at slipping past them undetected, even though it does not guarantee anything.

We know that Mas Selamat's family was visiting him at that time. This was probably not the first them they had met, and unknown to the guards, Mas Selamat could have secretly communicated his intention to escape during their previous visit. The family could easily arrange for Mas Selamat's supporters and friends to wait in various locations around the perimeter of the camp without much problem. They could be in a car by the roadside, for example.

The next visit that the family made was probably the signal that the chance has come for Mas Selamat to flee. The moment Mas Selamat was informed that his family was visiting, he knew that his friends were surrounding the camp and ready to pick him up once he made his escape.

Mas Selamat is smart. During the long time he spent in the camp, he made friends with his wardens to gain their trust. Naturally he would have been able to assess their personalities and pick out the more gullible and trusting wardens. He kept a low profile and obeyed orders to get on their "good side".

Likely that there was also complacency, incompetence and negligence involved. Once Mas Selamat got the signal, he would ask a friendly warden to go to the washroom. He might pick a time where the wardens were preoccupied with other tasks (such as admin matters) so they would be distracted and less concerned about him.

He must have been able to get permission to go to the toilet unsupervised, because it took 4 hours after his escape before the lockdown began. Once in the toilet, he climbed out of the window as that is the only other route of escape (he did jump from heights to escape before, resulting in his limp). Slipping past the guards, he probably climbed the fence at the camp's weakest area of security where he was picked up and left immediately before the wardens even realised that he was missing.

Maybe due to the fact that people trusted him too much, by the time lockdown commenced he already was far away from the camp and thus escaped the security grid. If he had been fast, he could have left the country by boat, if not he's probably hiding (read my post on "how much longer can mas selamat hold out").

How much longer can Mas Selamat hold out?

It's been nearly twelve days since terrorist and fugitive Mas Selamat has escaped from detention and police are not laying off the pressure just yet. Talk has been going around that Mas Selamat has indeed already successfully fled the country but Singapore is not taking any chances. Experts have been debating how long more can Mas Selamat hold out before he runs out of supplies.

How long more can he last? Mas Selamat was a trained commando, taught to survive in the harshest of conditions. Even so, being constantly on the run for the past 12 days must have taken it's toll on him. Either he's hiding in some nature reserve, weary and tired, or he's sipping lemonade on some exotic Indonesian beach.

Or not.

I don't know if the police have considered this possibility, that perhaps Mas Selamat is hiding just like a Singaporean citizen - In a nice HDB flat. Think about it - all he needs is a single household that supports him (or sympathizes with him) in order to have a nice home to hide in. In a country with 4 million people, I don't think it's all that hard to find. A sympathizer could hole him up in his flat for months, delivering food and other resources. And it would be impossible for the police to find him - After all it would require them to enter every household and search every room for him. And i'm sure people would get very upset at that prospect.

So he might be living off someone else in some suburban HDB estate in say, Hougang. He might be stuck here, but he could go on like this for over a year, while police and public awareness slowly return to normal levels until one day he decides to slip away. After all, how long can we keep our police force on full readiness and alertness? There are so many other things to attend to...

Mas Selamat is free, may someone save Singapore

Anyway, it's been over a week since this guy escaped and no one has even found any evidence of his presence. In my opinion, he has probably already fled the country, likely during the short lapse of security before his absence was reported.

People have speculated where he might have escaped to, and many state indonesia for it's perceived lack of security. At this point, such discussion is irrelevant because if he has indeed slipped past our borders, it will be nearly impossible to catch him. This world is small, but it's still large enough for one wily man to hide.

Hopefully he'll be caught, because I shudder to imagine the heinous acts of terror he might unleash upon our vulnerable country.

Did I say vulnerable? Because I mean it. Suuuuure you may argue that we have total defence. Everyone plays a part, right? Well sorry, but the harsh truth is that most singaporeans carry a "not my business" apathetic attitude. We couldn't even be bothered to spend a few minutes reporting some suspicious man with a santa-claus sack, while we could spend hours lining up for some crappy sale.

Do you get my point? Singaporeans are just not cut out to fight terrorism. We're living in a world of perceived peace and security. We need to have something real to us that will pinch us hard enough to wake us up. Maybe you're one of the exceptional ones who love their country and strive to follow all the anti-terrorist practices, reporting all the lost backpacks and such. But you have to admit, we're surrounded by a sea of ignorant, uncaring and unconcerned people.

Keep your eyes peeled. I won't be the one standing there when some bomb goes off.

"WANTED" MMS Message sent out to 5.5 Million Subscribers

"WANTED" MMS Message sent out to 5.5 Million Subscribers



In a bid to alert subscribers, three major telcos SingTel, StarHub and M1 have sent a single MMS message to a total of 5.5 million subscribers warning about escaped terrorist Mas Selamat. This message has been sent out since the first of march and took about 3 days to send completely. It is free and recipients will not be charged at all for this message.

A photograph of the JI leader is embedded on this message along with his physical profile and a warning to call 999 should anyone sight him.

Details of Mas Selamat's escape from detention.

JI leader Mas Selamat escaped from the Internal Security Department's Whitley Road Detention Centre at 4.05pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2008. He had been detained there for about two years prior to his untimely escape. His family was visiting him at the time of his escape, and he asked to go to the toilet while being led into a room to meet them. He then fled.

A manhunt involving the Singapore Police Force, the Police Tactical Unit, the Gurkha Contingent and the Police National Service Key Installation Protection Unit was carried out in the immediate vicinity of the area where Mas Selamat escaped. They were later aided by members of the Singapore Guards, and spent nearly 17 hours searching before the operation was wound down without success in locating the fugitive. Mas Selamat is, at this time of writing, currently at large. He is believed to be unarmed.

To read information about Mas Selamat, please read the article Who is Mas Selamat.

Mas Selamat is a dangerous terrorist who had previously plotted to bomb changi ariport. He will stop at nothing and is even willing to risk life and limb to achieve his goals. He must be stopped. If you see him or have any information about his whereabouts please call 999 immediately. If you want to participate in a discussion do not hesitate to leave a comment. Link to this blog and let your friends know about this escaped terrorist. Lives could be at stake.

Who is Mas Selamat

Mas Selamat bin Kastari is an Indonesian-born Singaporean. Born on 23 January 1961, he is Singapore's most wanted terrorist fugitive, who escaped from detention on 27 February 2008 and is currently at large. He is believed to be the leader of Singapore's branch of the militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI). This is his third time escaping from prison - he previously successfully escaped in indonesia before he was caught again.

Mas Selamat has been on the run since the Singapore authorities found out that he had planned to detonate seven bomb-laden trucks at various locations around the city-state. He was arrested by Indonesian counter-terrorist squads in Java in Janurary 2006 for using a fake identity card and was deported to Singapore when his connection with Singapore's JI was discovered. Further investigations confirmed suspicion of a plot to bomb Singapore Changi Airport in 2002 by crashing an aircraft into the airport.

Mas Selamat led a typical childhood kampung life in Kaki Bukit leading. He spent his childhood attending Kaki Bukit Primary School, and was known simply as "Selamat" to his neighbors. He moved to a flat in Bedok Reservoir sometime in the 1980s and was married with five children.

Mas Selamat joined Darul Islam around 1990, marking the start of his terrorist involvement. By 1992, he had joined Singapore's JI cell and was sent to Afghanistan for training a year later. He studied the Taleban system of government in 1998 and was impressed by it.

According to Singapore's intelligence authorities, Mas Selamat has met Hambali, the leader of JI, and communicated various terror plots such as hijacking a plane and crashing it into the Singapore Changi Airport.

You can read up more about Mas Selamat on his wikipedia article.

The Hunt for Mas Selamat

Hello and welcome to my blog, The Hunt for Mas Selamat. This blog is dedicated to hunting down and bringing to justice this escaped terrorist. Here you can find out more information and resources about who Mas Selamat is and the current events surrounding him. If you have any feedback do not hesitate to leave a comment on this blog. Join in the hunt for Mas Selamat!