Saturday, June 5, 2010 @ 11:09 AM
Look at the amount of books we have collected for our essay!
Video on the Vandalized SMRT Train
In my opinion, I feel that the Swiss guy did a great job ;)
Taken from Xinmsn
SINGAPORE : A 33—year—old Swiss male national who is alleged to have broken into an SMRT depot and vandalising a train will be charged in court on Saturday.
He faces a charge of trespassing into a protected place and two charges of vandalism.
Police suspect the offences were committed between the late night of May 16 and the early hours of May 17.
On May 19, the police were informed that two carriages of the train parked at Changi Depot had been spray—painted with graffiti. They arrested the suspect on May 25.
The offence of vandalism carries a punishment of imprisonment of up to three years or fine up to S$2,000, and caning of not less than three strokes and not more than eight strokes.
The offence of trespassing into a protected place carries a fine of S$1,000 or a jail term of two years, or both.
The vandal is believed to have sneaked into the depot along Xilin Avenue and left after he had done the damage. All this went undetected even with the depot surrounded by fencing that was topped by barbed wires.
Counter terrorism experts describe this as a "low—cost" lesson.
Professor John Harrison, counter—terrorism expert, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU, said: "This could have been very serious. If you had somebody who, instead of being up to mischief, was up to more severe damage, the system could have been severely disrupted.
"Lives could have been lost, perhaps if the person maybe knew what he was doing and had somehow damaged the equipment in other ways."
SMRT has stepped up security at all its depots. It is also working closely with the authorities to strengthen security at its perimeters, including additional surveillance and intrusion detection systems.
Prof Harrison said: "Any review would have to determine exactly what systems were in place — why they didn’t work and what systems need to be in place.
"And more importantly, they need to think laterally and think about what type of threats — both high—end and things that are just vandalism in this case — and what you need to protect, because remember — terrorists and criminals learn from each other.
"And they also learn from people who have nothing to do with either one — any time there is a breach in the system anywhere for any reason, it exposes a weakness that could be exploited for nefarious ends."
Professor Antonio Rappa, counter—terrorism expert at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU, added: "Singapore remains a target because of its success, because of our stability and we have become — like it or not — a symbol of neo—liberal capitalist achievement. And the terrorists are always looking out for success."
The train carriages have been scrubbed clean, but a video clip on YouTube showed the vandalised train filled with elaborate graffiti. The 27—second clip continues to attract eyeballs, as well as calls to plug the loopholes in security.
— CNA/al
