Q1: Why was Mas Selamat allowed to change into civilian clothing when meeting his family?
A: Detainees are allowed family visits, under very strict supervision, as part of their rehabilitation process. By allowing them to change into civilian clothes when meeting their families and not handcuffing them, the aim is also to secure the cooperation of their families and the community. Thus, prior to the weekly family visit, Mas Selamat was first escorted from the Cell Block to a locker room in the Locker Block to change into civilian clothes.

Q2: Why was he later allowed to use the toilet in the Family Visitation Block?
A: To shave and comb his hair before meeting his family members. This toilet was intended for use by WRDC staff and detainees' family visitors. For convenience, detainees also use this toilet when proceeding for family visits.

Q3: How could the Gurkha guards let Mas Selamat out of their line of sight? Is there a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) against it?
A: It is SOP for the guards to keep the detainee under constant supervision. This was what the guard thought he was doing. Even by allowing the detainee into the urinal cubicle, he had thought that site was well-secured, not knowing that the window was not grilled. From now, detainees will not be allowed to leave the line of sight of the guard.

Q4: Why did the urinal cubicle have doors?
A: The toilet in the Family Visitation Block has three compartments: one for the WC, one for the washbasin, and one for the urinal. There are doors for the WC cubicle as well as the urinal cubicle; this way the WC cubicle can be used by a woman while a man is using the urinal. It is likely that Mas Selamat has been leaving the door to the urinal partially or fully closed on previous occasions when he used the toilet, so the guards did not think it unusual when he closed it this time.

Q5: In the toilet, Mas Selamat flipped his pants over the door as a decoy before escaping through the window. Why did the guards not suspect anything? Men do not need to take off their pants while using the urinal. And why was there a tap in the urinal to enable him to have the sound of water running while he made his escape?
A: Some toilets do provide taps for Muslims to enable them to wash their private parts. The guard probably thought that Mas Selamat was washing his private parts and thus needed to hang his pants somewhere. They were not suspicious because as a detainee, he had been quiet, not shown hostility and presumably won their confidence. It is also probable that he had flipped his pants over the door on previous occasions when using the toilet just prior to family visits.

Q6: Why did the two Gurkha guards escorting Mas Selamat not have the initiative to check on him when he took too long in the toilet?
A: The SOP they have been instructed to follow is not to communicate directly with any detainee. They have to communicate through WRDC staff. This is to prevent any detainee getting too friendly with guards. Still, in this case, one of the guards should have gone inside the toilet himself after noting that Mas Selamat was taking too long in there.

Q7: Why were there no grilles over the toilet's ventilation window?
A: When renovations of WRDC were carried out last year, there was a miscommunication between the Internal Security Department (ISD) and the vendor over which windows were to be secured, although ISD had originally asked that all windows be grilled. When this particular window was found to have not been grilled, the WRDC Superintendent made a bad judgement call by instructing that the handle of the window be sawn off, thinking it would be adequate security.

Q8: Why was security so lax for a detention centre?
A: The Family Visitation Block probably has a lower level of security than the rest of the complex, a weakness Mas Selamat exploited. This does not mean there are no procedures established to deal with detainees. For example, when detainees are taken out of the cell block to other blocks, most of those movements are in passageways that are enclosed and they are also blindfolded. This is to keep them from familiarising themselves with the surroundings.

Q9: Can any of the WRDC staff be charged with criminal negligence in their handling of the case?
A: They were lax and incompetent but to prove criminal negligence, a lawyer would have to show there was criminal intent in the lapses. That could be difficult. For example, while the guards had taken Mas Selamat out of their line of sight, they probably did so without knowing that the toilet window could actually be opened. Also, any negligence in this case stemmed not just from the actions of an individual but also from systemic weaknesses. There was a confluence of many factors, so it would be difficult to determine who should be charged.

Q10: Were there no audits of WRDC security?
A: Security audits were done after the renovations in 2007. Despite that, security weaknesses, for example, in the perimeter fencing, were not detected. From now on, there will be independent security audits done by the Prisons Department.

Q11: How can we be sure this will not happen again?
A: All toilet ventilation windows in the WRDC have been sealed. Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng has promised that other security weaknesses like the perimeter fencing are in the process of being dealt with.

Q12: Why is it taking so long to find Mas Selamat?
A: Because forested areas are difficult to search. If a person lies low and still, a searcher as near as 10 feet away would not realise it. There are large tracts of forest in Singapore. Some of the illegal immigrants found during the search for Mas Selamat said they had been living in the forest for more than a year. There were nuts, berries, water and even illegal farms in the forest. It is also possible that Mas Selamat has altered his looks and no longer looks like what he did in the photo that has been widely distributed.