LV SMU Publication: The Straits Times, p H6 Date: 24 April 2008 Headline: To Resign Or Not, That's The Question Syporeans Are Asking

To resign or not, that' THE question of whether Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng should of- fer to resign cropped up among Singaporeans inter- viewed yesterday, on the disclosures in Parliament about terrorist leader Mas Selamat Kastari's escape.

It emerged when some, such as medical practition-

er Au Kah Kay, raised the issue of ministerial respon- sibility.

He argued that Mr Wong would have visited the Whitley Road Deten- tion Centre as Home Af- fairs Minister and ought to have noticed potential se- curity lapses.

Thus, Mr Wong should resign as he bore responsi- bility, "not by commis- sion, but by omission",

said Dr Au, 47. Holding a similar view

was writer Catherine Lim. She argued that given

the "huge magnitude" of the lapses that enabled Mas Selamat to escape, Mr Wong's resignation would be "the honourable thing" to do.

Whether or not Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong accepts it is another mat- ter, she said.

s the question S'poreans are "An apology is not

enough. You need a large symbolic gesture to match the enormity of the event," she added.

But businessman and former Nominated MP Zulkifli Baharuddin said Mr Wong should resign on- ly if he was "personally re- sponsible" or had totally lost the public's confi- dence:

"He should take some responsibility, sure, but re- signing? That is not how you would run a govern- ment."

Rebutting Dr Lim's view, he added: "We have

"Mr Wong is precise11 If$ ' the best person to clean ; tiL'{

*- -J up, to continue the hunl I

for Mas Selamat With %kT his backqround, beinq in&% MHA forso long hebill

u

wer 4 leave no stone g ,$, upturned." m2 BUSINESSMAN ZULKlFLl BAHARUWIN . .'

S-!- . - Cleft), a former Nominated MP - - u 1 to be practical. On this is- TCfEGUARDS'FAULT b: . I

sue, Mr Wong is precisely 'They had given (the the best person to clean up, to continue the hunt 1

for Mas Selamat. With his 11 guards) orden to look background, being in MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) for so long, he will leave no stone untumed."

In Parliament on Tues- day, PM Lee dismissed any suggestion that Mr Wong should resign. Singapore, he said, did not go for polit- ically expedient options but focused on solving the underlying problems.

While the minister is ul- timately accountable for his ministry's policies and operations, it "does not mean that if a lapse occurs down the line, every level in the chain of command, up to and including the minister, should automati- cally be punished or re-

I after this. tt's negligence ,

believes the fault liessquamly at the 'J ' door of the gualds, not the Gowmment , jr ' ' 1 . " . . ' SORRY ISNOTEWOUGH '"

J

"An apology is not l : . . C'

enough. You need a - L -

largesymbolic gesture to match the enormity

ipl/f the event. IIF~ ; ITER CATHERINE LIM

.. I . * ,

moved", Mr Lee said. Instead, the Govern-

ment has to investigate who was at fault and take disciplinary action accord- ingly.

Indeed Mr N. Silva, resident of the Union of ecurity Em loyees, be- K lieves that t e fault lies

squarely at the door of the guards, not the Govern- ment.

"They had given (the euards) orders to look af- ier thii. 1t7s negligence on the part of those people," he said.

Law academic Eu ene Tan did not think tiere was a public clamour for Mr Wong's resignation.

In his view, the "gener- al unease and discomfort" among the public stemmed more from a fear that there could be "severe sys- temic weaknesses".

If even a "top-notch, froot-line agency' like the Internal Security Depart- ment could suffer such la s- es, "it makes you won s er about the rest of the gov- ernment agencies", he ar- gued.

Workers' Party leader Low Thia Khian ; who # was silent when M Lee

ointedly asked him in Par- iament if he thought Mr F

Wong should resign, did ond to similar ques-

gEs?om this paper on the issue. Log on to straitstirnes.com for free videos and podcast on the Mas Selamat escape

Source: The Straits Times O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.