Kudos to the authorities for the speedy arrest of the Indonesian maid suspected to be behind the murder of an elderly couple in Bedok (Bedok double murder: Suspect arrested in Jambi; June 29).

According to the report, the suspect fled her employers' home in Bedok after allegedly murdering them, then probably bought a ferry ticket to go to either Batam or Tanjung Balai in the Riau Islands.

What I would like to understand is how such a situation could have happened, since the police had been notified of the murder and the maid was suspected of being the perpetrator.

Being a small country, and a technologically advanced one on top of that, one would think it should be almost impossible to escape the watchful eyes of staff at the checkpoints.

I believe this is not the first case of suspects escaping overseas after crime has been committed.

This time, the suspect was apprehended with help from the Indonesian police.

But, there are likely to be other cases where suspects left the country and were not caught.

As a citizen of Singapore, I find it rather unsettling that criminal suspects are able to make their way out of the country easily, and that we have to rely on the vigilance of the police force overseas to locate them.

Doesn't the Singapore Police Force work closely with agencies like the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority to ensure that scenarios like this are avoided?

Is information concerning criminal suspects disseminated in a timely manner to the various land and sea checkpoints to ensure that criminal suspects are not able to flee the country?

Amy How (Ms)