Mas Selamat T-shirt: What will they think of next?

3 weeks ago I wrote about how Facebook groups help in the hunt for Mas Selamat in Singapore, with particular emphasis on the group Instant ORD for Mas Selamat Capture. The creators of the group, 20-year old Ashwin Tiwari and Ray Ninnan Panicker, have gone one step further by printing 100 T-shirts with Mas Selamat’s face on it and are selling it on Facebook.

The tongue-in-cheek tone of the Facebook group caught the eye of a local reporter, who contacted the guys for an interview. To date, they have gotten attention from local TV channels (Channel 8 and Channel News Asia) and an article in today’s Sunday Times (Mas Selamat: Here are 100 T-shirts to wear him out) which have created even more buzz for the creators.

Some may call it opportunism but it sure is paying off for the guys, who have received 70 orders to date for the $16 T-shirt that they are selling on Facebook. The T-shirt sports the fugitive’s face with the words “Reward Instant ORD”, and is quite frankly rather decent-looking. The publicity can only serve to not only help the pair’s ambitions to start a T-shirt printing business, but spread further awareness of what remains a very serious national concern.

I have to say that I think it’s quite a smart move. If they are planning to set up a T-shirt business, there is no better way to kick-start their sales then by creating a design that resonates with their client base, and attracts publicity at the same time. And by providing local content, it differentiates their product from the existing t-shirt designs out there. It’s a good example of how to use social media effectively, and local companies can certainly learn a thing or two from these two entrepreneurial upstarts.

I for one would love to see more people wearing clothes from not only local brands, but those that reflect local culture and sentiments as well. What better way to ensure that youths continue to feel an emotional connection with their country? Well okay, there may be better ways, but I would say that this could just be an important first step.

Another interesting issue that I felt was interesting is that a local journalist turned to social media for news which then led to coverage by the newspaper and television. This reflects the trend now for news to spread from online media to mainstream media back to online media, and it’s great that Singapore journalism has caught up with the bandwagon, at least a little.

How Facebook groups help in hunt for fugitive in Singapore

Perhaps some of you may be unaware. There’s a massive manhunt going around now in Singapore. On 27th February, Wednesday, Mas Selamat Bin Kastari, alleged leader of the Singapore arm of the militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah, escaped from detention and sparked a massive manhunt involving thousands of policemen and Gurkhas. In addition to posters being pasted everywhere including MRT stations and bus doors, telcos Singtel, Starhub and M1 are also sending out free MMSes to users with photos of the alleged terrorist and citizens are on high alert.

I find a certain development particularly interesting:

Proliferation of Facebook groups related to the manhunt

While I anticipated the Facebook group Where in Singapore is Mas Selamat, which basically tries to drum up more awareness for the manhunt, I did not anticipate this:
Instant ORD for Mas Selamat Capture. The second group, with the most members at 149 strong last I checked, is decidedly cheeky in tone. It is even classified under the category “Just for fun - Totally Pointless”. Taken from the group profile:

A little background on this fellow MAS ‘the mat bomber’ SELAMAT:
Singapore’s most dangerous man, who once plotted to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport was thrown into jail, and was not heard of till he masterminded one of the greatest escapes in modern history; walking out of the back door of a detention centre’s toilet. The man with a limp in his left leg has been able to evade the authorities since. Commandos, Guards, Gurkhas and thousands of policemen have been on the lookout for him, some standing 5 metres apart just in case The Flash blitzes past them. Still, we feel our comrades in arms could do better, so we have outlined a detailed proposal to the government:

MINDEF SHOULD OFFER AN INSTANT ORD FOR HIS CAPTURE!

OUR SOLDIERS NEED MORE MOTIVATION!!!

So ladies and gentlemen, give me your 2 cents on his possible location.

My take is pretty obvious, “one corner”

Does it make light of a very serious situation? Yes. Is it totally pointless? I’d say no. Even as the group owner adopts a very light tone, I feel that he has succeeded in increasing awareness of a very serious situation. At the very least, he is making Mas Selamat’s face even more recognisable among Facebook users, which can’t be a bad thing can it?

As to the escape itself, many are asking how exactly he could have escaped from detention in a country that has prided itself on prudent internal security, and many questions remained unanswered.

ORD: Operationally Ready Date, the date that determines the end of the obligatory 2 years of national service.

mat: slang referring to a Malay male.

one corner: refers to slang that usually goes with “relax one corner” or “relak one corner”. Associated with the use of the term “mat”.

To read about the Mat Rocker sub-culture, see this site.