It is unbelievable that a terrorist has escaped from an ISD detention centre! And just like in the movies! Don't the ISD guys watch movies?! How could they let him escape via the toilet?! And with so many CCTV cameras on the island, did they forget to install some around their facility?! It is shameful to say the least. "The Indonesians caught him and we lost him" -- that sounds real embarassing.
He's probably in Indonesia now... He probably had someone helping outside. Or maybe even inside.
On a side note, there are some conspiracy theories coming out. One guy says that he died inside so it was a cover-up. If that were true, at least he's not out there. But he probably IS out there. If he's in Indonesia now, all is lost. You need Humint, operatives, UAVs, troops and vehicles to get him -- if you have a lead.
Most people have probably forgotten the nefarious plans of the JI. Most of them are pretty normal, except for two. One was a plan to hijack an Aeroflot plane in Thailand and crash it into Changi Airport. The other was to attack the water pipeline from Malaysia to Singapore and blame it on Malaysia, thereby starting a war between the two countries. They planned to take advantage of that to overthrow the Malaysian government and take over. That's just like that James Bond movie!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Here's my review of the recent Singapore Aerospace compared to previous Asian Aerospace sessions...
In the AA, the ticket holder shuttle bus queues moved continuously because buses came continuously. The public bus queues also moved pretty fast. In contrast, the SA bus queues moved like a snail and snaked all around Pasir Ris... I'm not kidding.
One reason is because of the need to scan the tickets. But in fact, when the crowds got too much, it looked like they moved to using offline handheld scanning. Later on at the venue, they apparently gave up on ticket scanning alogether when the crowd was just too big. Tickets were not checked at all and anyone who came in by foot or taxi could go in.
In the first place, the SA tickets were self-printed, hence requiring authentication to ensure they weren't photocopied. Omni Ticketing handled it this year and this is after the F1 ticketing problem. The problem is that even SingPost tickets were on A4 paper. In fact, most tickets needed authentication -- obviously they have no previous experience with the AA! They only needed to ask any aviation buff to know that it is really crowded! Those planners really had no common sense to just ask anyone with experience, preferring to plan using their "helicopter quality". Authentication will not work! Queues must move continuously with buses coming continuously.
Many people were late for the airshow as a result. This year, many people bought tickets rather than watch it free as the venue is not public friendly. In the AA, hordes of people could watch for free close up at Changi beach just outside the venue, and which is quite accessible. The best SA spot is near the ferry terminal, which is not very accessible, what with the traffic jam. And the spot is not very good. The new centre has been designed to discourage freeloaders - just look at the map! Only ticket holders get to watch at the correct angle and at close range.
The content this year in the halls is also not as educational as in the AA. Only 2 exhibits were educational, if you ask me. One Israeli one and the Singapore one. This means that most people were unsatisfied as they missed the airshow or could not get a good spot because of the crowds, and there was nothing else in the SA. In other words, they wasted most of their money.
In the AA, the ticket holder shuttle bus queues moved continuously because buses came continuously. The public bus queues also moved pretty fast. In contrast, the SA bus queues moved like a snail and snaked all around Pasir Ris... I'm not kidding.
One reason is because of the need to scan the tickets. But in fact, when the crowds got too much, it looked like they moved to using offline handheld scanning. Later on at the venue, they apparently gave up on ticket scanning alogether when the crowd was just too big. Tickets were not checked at all and anyone who came in by foot or taxi could go in.
In the first place, the SA tickets were self-printed, hence requiring authentication to ensure they weren't photocopied. Omni Ticketing handled it this year and this is after the F1 ticketing problem. The problem is that even SingPost tickets were on A4 paper. In fact, most tickets needed authentication -- obviously they have no previous experience with the AA! They only needed to ask any aviation buff to know that it is really crowded! Those planners really had no common sense to just ask anyone with experience, preferring to plan using their "helicopter quality". Authentication will not work! Queues must move continuously with buses coming continuously.
Many people were late for the airshow as a result. This year, many people bought tickets rather than watch it free as the venue is not public friendly. In the AA, hordes of people could watch for free close up at Changi beach just outside the venue, and which is quite accessible. The best SA spot is near the ferry terminal, which is not very accessible, what with the traffic jam. And the spot is not very good. The new centre has been designed to discourage freeloaders - just look at the map! Only ticket holders get to watch at the correct angle and at close range.
The content this year in the halls is also not as educational as in the AA. Only 2 exhibits were educational, if you ask me. One Israeli one and the Singapore one. This means that most people were unsatisfied as they missed the airshow or could not get a good spot because of the crowds, and there was nothing else in the SA. In other words, they wasted most of their money.