Mas Selamat Captured!!

At the end of February, 2008, a guy named Mas Selamat (wikipedia page hasn't been updated about his capture when I saw it) apparently walked out of jail in Singapore. This is what I wrote about it. It was a HUGE deal in Singapore. There were signs up everywhere with his picture. People were freaking out. How does a guy walk out of prison? Not only a guy, but THE guy who has super orchestrated terrorist events and is a big leader in Jemaah Islamiya.

There were a lot of theories floating around. I'm not saying what I believe, because I want to keep my legal status in Singapore, but many people thought that maybe he had been accidentally tortured to death, but the gov't had to cover up the death. Maybe an escaped convict is better than one that they tortured (for the public image)? There were many ideas floating around, but nearly no one I spoke with believed that he legitimately escaped out of jail. No one.

That was nearly 15 months ago. We don't really think about him anymore. The signs with his picture have been removed. I spoke with a friend from INSEAD who is Singaporean, and I just met him at Wharton, and I asked him what he thought...but other than that, I don't think I have talked about this for 9 months or more.

Then...this morning I go to look at the paper while I'm cerealing. I expect to find more anti-gay stuff...but that has been forgotten for today. MAS SELAMAT CAPTURED!! Apparently the Malaysian government was tipped off, and they captured him in Johor, which is the area of Malaysia that is just across the border from Singapore. Nevermind that it took them six weeks to release the information (he was captured 1 April). I'm totally shocked. Totally shocked.