Is spray-painting a subway train with graffiti a matter of national security? Yes if you do it in Singapore, and you’d better be prepared for the consequences.
Oliver Fricker, a 32-year-old Swiss software consultant working in the city-state, is on trial for allegedly breaking into a depot and leaving an elaborate work of aerosol art on the side of a carriage in May.
The police have launched an international manhunt for his alleged British accomplice, Lloyd Dane Alexander, who managed to slip out of Singapore before being found out. The incident raised questions about the security of key facilities in Singapore, a staunch US ally that sees itself as a prime terrorist target, and the authorities are indignant.
Only in May, Indonesian officials said they found a map of Singapore’s MRT train network in the home of an Islamic extremist shot dead in Jakarta. Singapore has long considered vandalism a serious crime and punishes culprits with jail terms, fines and caning, and reports of terrorist plots against the island have given the subway graffiti case an added dimension.
The suspects should not expect leniency — an American teenager — Michael Fay, was caned in 1994 despite US appeals for clemency after he vandalised cars and public property.
The defaced MRT train has been scrubbed clean but a clip taken by a commuter can still be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CV4JYKBEQo [1], attracting over 113,000 hits so far. Some comments posted on YouTube praised the graffiti as a work of art.
Links:
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CV4JYKBEQo