Anthony Yeo

Since the news of the escape of Mas Selamat Kastari, there has been a lot of attention given to not only his escape but the need for everyone in Singapore to get involved in looking out for him.

This has also generated a lot of discussion, debate and some form of dissension amongst many through interpersonal encounters, sms and the internet.

It was further exacerbated following the disclosure by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and the debate that followed in parliament.

Inasmuch as views and news have been circulated, there has also been the appeal to leave the matter behind and move on.

Even Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has urged us to move on as there are other more urgent matters to deal with, such as inflation (ST April 27). Likewise Political Editor of Straits Times Chua Lee Hoong appealed for the same highlighting that there are “Crucial issues aplenty, so let’s move on” (ST April 26).

As I ponder over this escape that has become a national pre-occupation since it happened, I do wonder if we can adopt another perspective to what happened and how it has affected people.

We may need to begin with the acknowledgement that this incident is no ordinary occurrence and that it has virtually no parallel to anything that has happened before.

What we have been confronted with is the escape of a man who is not only identified as an alleged terrorist but deemed as a very serious threat to not only Singapore, but whichever place or people he may decide to target and destroy.

Mas Selamat Kastari is also known to have links with a network of terrorists that the world, let alone Singapore regard as a current threat.

Furthermore, Singapore seemed all too gratified that he was arrested and assumed that his detention would pose minimal or no threat as we managed to capture the “big one” – the alleged head of the Singapore branch of Jemaah Islamiah, a terrorist organisation. He was no “small fry” that we can easily disregard.

This clarification should set the context for appreciating and understanding the reactions of people regarding his escape and the difficulty of simply leaving the matter behind to move on.

The psychological perspective

From a psychological perspective, there was the shock element.

This is akin to the initial impact of a traumatic experience like the Asian tsunami or any other unexpected cataclysmic incident.

It cannot be denied that people were probably shocked to read of the escape. If he poses a low threat to the nation, like an ordinary prisoner who escapes from detention, we would probably be just upset.

Then there was the widespread publicity of his escape and the swift response of Government and people in spreading information of his possible whereabouts.

In quick succession, posters of Mas Selamat Kastari’s face were put up at every nook and cranny of Singapore, then there were awareness gatherings organised to alert people to be on the lookout for him.

This would have had a powerful psychological impact as it sustained the shock element, and generated a possible mass hysteria of the mind, and possibly widespread paranoia as well.

Such a heightened consciousness of his escape, coupled with constant reporting of the search by police and army personnel, as well as the gradual disclosure culminating in the revelation and debate in parliament of his escape could have magnified people’s concerns over what happened.

As with any traumatic experience, shock is often accompanied by anger.

Such shock and anger can be elucidated by our Government’s frequent extolling of itself of being efficient and always delivering, or exceeding, its promises.

Likewise, people in Singapore had obviously anchored their trust in our proclaimed impeccable system.

We can easily postulate that with such a mindset, this escape and the manner in which it happened would have shattered people’s confidence momentarily.

It would also disrupt their belief that lapses of the kind that was made public could even have occurred before.

As we think of it, drug abusers who pose no threat to national security when caught are kept under high security detention in Changi Prison.

Therefore, in the minds of many, it was utterly incredulous that a man who is such a great threat is detained in a building that is more easily accessible than many other public buildings in Singapore.

This would obviously pose a severe damage to people’s beliefs and sense of safety.

Somehow we cannot deny the possibility that this would have lead to heightened anxiety and fear.

The aftermath of the escape saw schools and homes in the vicinity of the detention centre being heavily guarded and under constant surveillance by armed police and soldiers.

In addition, the way apology was rendered could have contributed to the anger experienced and expressed by many.

Somehow, people would have expected a clearer, direct assumption of responsibility and apology by the highest authority without qualification.

Instead, what people heard from parliament amounted to some kind of dissociation from responsibility and accountability.

I believe what mattered was not whether Mr Wong should have been dismissed or be asked to resign.

What mattered was the need to accept responsibility and apologise unreservedly before seeking to engage in lengthy exposition of the lapses connected with the escape.

In fact, the more explanations were offered, the greater the cognitive dissonance in people, as they had to grapple with information that triggered more questions in their minds.

If we do want to get on with other matters, we may need to acknowledge that this incident resembles a traumatic experience of grave magnitude. It is difficult to simply leave this episode behind and just move on.

Like all healing processes in traumatic experiences that may have features of post-traumatic stress disorder, it takes effort and time.

Healing comes from the need to express thoughts and feelings about the incident. This is part of the remembering process, which includes the recounting and re-experiencing of the incident.

Such remembering should be given space and time for expression, and with time this remembering will soon subside.

Expression of thoughts and feelings in healing from trauma should be unfettered. The more we try to suppress or disregard such thoughts and feelings, the longer they will linger and fester.

Of course, when we let this happen, we may need to be ready to absorb and accommodate such expressions no matter how vitriolic they may be.

It is also wiser not to try to explain further, or worse, attempt to defend.

Anger being anger is often a manifestation of hurt and pain that needs expression to avert the possibility of explosion.

Of course healing from traumatic experiences also comes with action in redressing mishaps and mistakes to restore a sense of safety and confidence.

This is where the assurance from the Government that it will improve the security of detainees in future would be one step towards healing.

Meanwhile, a high level of tolerance for further discussion and debate would help instead of constant reminders to leave this behind and move on.

All said and done, in the meantime, it may still not be possible to leave this matter behind for the obvious reason that Mas Selamat Kastari is still at large.

We still harbour uncertainty with lingering anxiety, wondering if he would do anything to threaten our security.

Much as we do not wish it, we must still deal with the possibility that there will be no closure to this incident as long as we do not know his whereabouts.

This leaves us with an ambiguous situation that cannot be resolved no matter what corrective measure is made to the future detention of terrorists.

The most we can do is to bear with the ambiguity whilst nursing the injury from the incident.

We can try to leave it behind, not by leaving it alone, but by focusing on other matters that concern us whilst living with this ambiguity.

——————–

Anthony Yeo is the Consultant Therapist at the Counselling and Care Centre.

TOC thanks Anthony for contributing the above article.

——————–

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Singapore’s 2018 Year-in-Review by PM Lee is surprisingly upbeat

In his 2019 New Year’s message, PM Lee uses quite a lot…

Sacked Gurkhas staged kidnapping in Nepal

Group involved in pay dispute in S’pore last year was sacked from force.

杨厝港巴士转换站撞死三路人 验尸官:司机可能因心脏不适突晕厥

早前罗厘司机在杨厝港巴士转换站撞飞三名路人后伤重不治,验尸官表示罗厘司机很可能在事故发生当下由其心脏不适而晕厥的可能,并称其事故是一场不幸的交通事故。 该事故发生于2018年4月23日早上9点半左右,一辆罗厘失控撞死三名路人。罗厘司机许凯翔(译音)当时正要去拿包裹,正要转向左侧时,却撞上一辆双层巴士,然后在撞上路边的三名路人,包括死者86岁蔡庆忠和58岁的蔡爱华父女,以及63岁的男子叶顺发。 民防部队人员抵达现场后,宣告三名路人当场死亡。其中两人受困在罗厘车底,民防部队人员须使用气袋垫高罗厘把他们移出来,罗厘司机也受重伤。 司机称自己在开车途中突然眼前一片黑暗,当下也丧失了意识。随后,在供词上,他也表示案发当时因视力模糊和头部出现沉重感而意识开始模糊,司机表示当时虽然尽力睁开双眼,但却无法做到。 司机也忆述,他在意外发生前最后一件事是车子正在行驶,但当他意识清醒时才发现罗厘被撞了,他的脚也被卡住。 随后,他在去年10月时,承认无照驾驶,被判罚款1400元,此外也被判无事省释,但不等同无罪。 根据指控,他有可能因涉嫌以对公众产生危险的方式开车,以及无法对车子进行适当的控制而再加控一罪。一旦罪成,被告可能获判最高五年的罪行。 验尸官:是一场不幸交通事故 但随着7个月的调查后,验尸官公布结果,表示这是一起不幸的交通事故,排除危驾的指控,因此被告可能不会面对监禁,但目前尚不知他会否再被重新提控。 受害者家属也在法庭上告诉记者,他们不接受验尸官的结果,也将会对被告提起民事诉讼。对于被告意识不清的说法,受害者家属认为该说法与被告的口供不一致,相信他是累了而睡着,而不如他所说意识不清。 根据被告的口供,他在不到两岁时被诊断出患有严重的心脏病,他也在之后进行了三次的手术。然而,在2013年3月开始变停止追踪,并被诊断为心脏功能不错,医生也不曾警告过他不许开车。 但根据报告显示,他曾在过去几年内出现轻微的视力模糊,但他也未曾就医或通知他的雇主。…

【冠状病毒19】73岁病患因并发症逝世

本地第4689起冠状病毒患者昨日因冠毒并发症,宣告病逝,为73岁的本地人。 卫生部指出,病患生前有高血压、高脂血和甲状腺机能减退症(hypothyroidism)的病历,基于是因冠毒并发症逝世,所以被纳入冠毒死亡病例中,属本地第23起死亡病例。 依据病患纪录,患者于4月17日确诊,在5月21日逝世,病患家属也获得国家传染病中心联系,确保他们获得所需要的帮助。 在我国自冠毒爆发至今所累积的22起死亡病例中,年龄介于58至97岁的死者,大部分生前都患有慢性疾病。