mas selamaaat

okay finally I can get my post up.
Sorry Dr Alfiani because my computer is infected with spyware.

What do Malaysians say when Mas Selamat Kastari sneaks into Malaysia? They say "selamat datang" which means "selamat arrives" but it actually means "welcome". Or why not we call Mas Selamat Mas Scofield (Michael Scofield from Prison Break) and make a story called Toilet BReak. Funny? That's what alot of people seem to think. Mas Selamat has been the talk of the town but exactly what do we talk about him shows how we feel about the situation.

An article in The New Paper on 2 March 2008 has multiple edited pictures of his mugshot. In those pictures, he was given a moustache and a goatee, with a nearly-balded head and dyed hair. Another spots him wearinga scarf around his neck, covering half his face. Another has him wearing a cap sideways. The New Paper claims that these edited pictures can help the public spot Singapore's most wanted man( even the President doesn't get that much attention) but how can these specific pictures help. Yes it reminds us that this man can put ona disguise, but who does not know that he will put on a disguise? I guess we all expect him to be in a disguise(clown costume perhaps?) I thought that the New Paper just wanted to poke fun into the situation and make an indirect humour to the public.

Even the public does not take it seriously. And since even the media does not take it seriously. People take advantage of the situation to get their one-minute-of-fame by making prank calls and hoax threats. And these pranksters are of a mature age. Pretty irresponsible characters I must say. And even to us; Do we really bother to scan the public for Mas Selamat. We hear the repetative announcements that goes like " If you see any..." and we feel that it is just another thing we hear every morning or that the announcements are a torture device playing something over and over again.

I think, we should all take the matter as it is and take it seriously.After all, knowing MAs Selamat's links and motives, we can be sur ethat this man is a regional danger to us all. When do we take action? When our lives are threatened? If we want to capture this man, the whole region, if not nation, must do its part. So i say we stop complaining and joking and just put in a little effort to be aware of this short, not good-looking but dangerous and tricky man.

Ahmad