Jun 8, 2010
Staff thought it was artwork
The reason: Staff who spotted the graffiti thought it was an advertisement or artwork, and brushed it off. It was only when the train was called in for routine maintenance on May 19 that the alarm was raised, it said. -- PHOTO: YOUTUBE
AFTER almost a week of silence, train operator SMRT on Tuesday revealed the scale of the security breach at its Changi train depot.
For close to two whole days from May 17, it said in a statement on Tuesday, the company had no idea of the gaping hole in the perimeter fence at the depot, which consequently went unrepaired. And during this time, no staff member raised an alarm that a train had been vandalised.
The reason: Staff who spotted the graffiti thought it was an advertisement or artwork, and brushed it off. It was only when the train was called in for routine maintenance on May 19 that the alarm was raised, it said.
Police had earlier said that two men allegedly broke into the depot late on May 16 or in the early hours of May 17. One, Swiss national Oliver Fricker, 32, was charged with vandalism and trespassing. He is out on bail. His employer, Swiss company Comit AG, has also suspended him.
The other, believed to be Briton Lloyd Dane Alexander, is still at large. A warrant for his arrest has been issued.
In its statement on Tuesday, SMRT said its staff noticed the graffiti on the two train carriages on May 17, but thought nothing of it.
Comments: After reading this, I think that the Singapore government might be a little too over-reacting. Because I don't really think that this is considered vandalism because there's no vulgarities written on it. Although in Singapore, doing anything to the public properties is already considered vandalism, but the person who did it wasn't even a Singaporean. It's obvious that he din't know the laws of Singapore. Adding on, the graffiti he did was..nice. It wasn't ugly fugly, but artsy fartsy. I mean, why get so worked up? Yes you can charge him for trespassing, but, vandalism? Really? We should learn to relax, everyone.
WendyTang.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_537320.html
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