Business groups and analysts instead expressed confidence that Singapore would learn from the experience and put things right, Mr Lim told the House. Opposition MP Low Thia Khiang (Hougang) and Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) had asked about the negative impact of the episode, including on the economy.

Mr Lim told Mr Low that the incident did not feature as an issue of concern in the Economic Development Board's interactions with existing and potential investors.

While acknowledging that it was a serious security lapse, he reminded MPs that investor confidence was built over time, based on Singapore's successful track record of getting things done.

'Analysts such as the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy are confident the Singapore Government and its institutions will learn valuable lessons from this and will change the way we do things,' he added.

Mr Wong, speaking separately, related a comment from someone who had settled here and been struck by how the authorities took the incident so seriously and acted quickly to fix the problem.

Nominated MP Gautam Banerjee, PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore's executive chairman, commended Mr Wong for being candid about the incident and follow-up measures. 'People look at what you do after there is a lapse, what sort of process, what sort of action you take,' he said when he joined the discussion.

'I think that, within two months of this happening, you not only appointed an independent Committee of Inquiry, the committee has done its deliberations, you've shared them in a very open manner, very frank manner with the House.'

His said such an approach 'will restore a lot of confidence in Singapore's ability to look at problems and take action'.

By contrast, in some other countries, 'you never get the response, certainly within a very short time, and you don't take the action (and) the consequences seriously. I think this is something which is very good and it certainly gives me a lot of confidence that the system is working'.

Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, said there was no point in ducking the issue of Mas Selamat's escape or trying to cover up the truth. That would only do Singapore more harm.

'Indeed, today, I have disclosed a lot of information. That was what I promised I will do and we are not running away from the problem,' he said. 'This is the way the Government has been dealing with issues: to get to the bottom of problems, to find the cause of it, to solve it and then to take action to ensure that similar problems do not recur.'

But Mr Wong conceded that the Government had to improve the way it communicates, both with the press and the people.

In the days after the escape, information was released slowly to the public, leading to criticism that the ministry was stone-walling. This was certainly not the intention, he said to MPs.

He told Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC) that communication can always be improved.

Explaining the four-hour delay before the news of the escape was made public, he said the immediate priority was to find Mas Selamat, who was not thought to be 'of immediate danger' and unlikely to plan an attack.

'Could we have shortened the process? Yes, I would acknowledge that it's a valid point and we'll study this and see how to make further improvement,' he said.

Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio GRC) and Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim cited other instances, such as taking five days for the public to be told about Mas Selamat's limp and 19 days to be told he had a mole under his eye.

Mr Wong explained that the authorities were cautious about releasing information as they wanted 'to be very accurate'.

lynnlee@sph.com.sg

xueying@sph.com.sg