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!

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.

I went to Labrador Park and Kent Ridge Park today. Singapore is one country that forgets so easily!

I recall an article in the papers that said the East Coast beach at Marine Terrace had eroded about 15 m. 15 m my foot! Ask anyone who lives here and they can tell you the sea was not visible from the bicycle station, or from the newer East Coast Recreation Centre (Now Marine Cove). It was because of erosion that Marine Cove became nearer to the sea. They moved the tracks inshore countless times! They even had to rework the shore and dump sand to redo the beach at least twice! Because the shore had reached inwards to the max limit.

Or NParks stumbling upon tunnels in Labrador Park in 2001?! I myself saw the remnants of the fort when I was in university! I'm sure the rest of the people jogging or relaxing at the park regularly then knew that there were tunnels too! But they bochup and soon everyone forgot! I bet not a lot of people know now that there was a BP tank farm and a Navy base (Tanjong Berlayer) there last time!

Or how about the Old Changi Hospital? I am old enough to have sent patients there during my NS. Indeed, I even fetched a suicide case from the SAF Ward PMIC back to camp. Most people have forgotten that the hospital was split into two sites. Yes, the A and E was not with the main hospital. I should know -- I sent a patient there and the driver was perplexed that he followed the signs to Changi hospital building but there was no A and E! We drove to the A and E further down. In fact, I think there was even a service tunnel connecting them, according to my parents who were there in the 60s. I bet everyone has forgotten that the Changi General Hospital in Simei was provisionally EGH, then was named NCH when it opened and finally changed to CGH some time later.

So much info disappears when a generation passes on... The archives should do something!

I have the best travel plan for visitors to Singapore!

Hotel Stay: 3-Star hotel (Budget? 2-Star hotel)

Day 1: City Tour and heritage tour. Suntec City and surroundings.

Day 2: Singapore Zoo. Night Safari.

Day 3: Vivo City. Sentosa.

Day 4: Sim Lim Square. Orchard Road.

Day 5: HDB heartlands. Bt Timah nature reserve. Optionals.

Day 6: Relax and return to airport.

Optional (Depends on age and interests):

Science Centre and Omnimax Theatre. Bird Park. Botanic Gardens. East Coast Park. Asian Civilizations Museum. Art Museum. Singapore Discovery Centre and Army Museum. Sungei Buloh. Actual performance at Esplanade.

Perhaps I should describe the ATEC-II ICT here so that any other SIR reservist out there will know what to expect.

The week before, I had medical refresher on Friday and Saturday -- 2 full days. Then it was the ICT.

The first day, we drew our personal stores and had a CO parade. We then had [censored]. This time, there was no night training for the entire ICT. There was an IPPT on the second day. We had [censored]. The third day was the BME and we moved out for [censored]. We then [censored], moving back to camp at 6.30 pm. On Friday, we cleaned and prepared our stores for the next week, and soaked our uniforms in insect repellent. Once we were ready for ATEC, we went for a CO briefing, and when the unit was all-prepped after inspection, we booked out at 10.30 pm on Friday.

The next week, we came back for the ATEC package. [censored] Walked to midnight [censored], ending at 3 am. Personal hygiene before sleeping till 6 am. Then we moved out for the 3rd mission, [censored]. Echo Charlie at 4.30 pm. We returned to camp at 6.30 pm on Thursday. We booked out at 6.30 pm on Friday, and all commanders 3SG and above (including me) returned on Sat for the AAR and results.

I have done much outdoor education stuff in my life and I believe that I can say that it is one of my teaching sub-specialities -- the other being a Robotics teacher (I'm very well-versed with the concepts. Do you know how many books I have on robotics?).

Anyway, back to OE. Here's my experience...

• Cadet Scout in primary school, where we did height elements with no safety, flying fox, camping, hiking, camp cooking, orienteering, etc.
  
• YLTC in JC, where we did 8 days of the standard stuff -- abseiling, sea ex, land ex, obstacle course, ropes course, solo night, etc.
  
• 21-day OBS in university, where we did everything, including cutter sailing (crew of 10), Round Island Kayaking (4 days) and solo exercise (4 days).
  
• Twin Peaks Challenge as a teacher in VJC, where we climed Mt Trusmadi and Mt Kinabalu.
  
• Expedition leader course as a teacher in Damai Sec, where we did everything in Australia, including whitewater kayaking and a 44 km 3-day exercise in the real wilderness in winter.
  
• Climbed Mt Ophir twice as an NCC teacher in Damai Sec.
  
• Kayaking 2-star personal skill
  
• Attended powerboat course and Topper sailing course (I did not take any exams though.)
  

I just came back from my 2-week Infantry reservist with ITI -- ATEC Phase 2. We managed to get good enough results to qualify for the incentive -- 6-day high-key training only in Mar 2009.

4 days in the field with two attacks and an ASO. With TES-BFI set and 9 kg of medical load. I was itching all over by the 4th day. In fact, I'm still itching...

I really despise those slackers who don't do combat reservist like us... Reservist is like a holiday to them, free leave by the SAF, stay out or night's off every day. For us, we have to work hard during ICT.