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").