tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242799495369131861.post9121403174659669949..comments2009-11-15T12:54:52.394+08:00Ravi Philemonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15419680141901962456noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242799495369131861.post-27791333625313415612009-11-15T01:00:32.690+08:002009-11-15T01:00:32.690+08:00Hi Ravi,<br /> I see this entry is pretty ancient.. but anyway my belated $0.02..<br />The fact that Singapore is such a small country, where it&#39;s pretty common for someone you&#39;ve just met at a party to know your cousin/aunt/secondary school friend etc etc, makes their missing status all the more sinister-- if they were runaways, it wouldn&#39;t be, IMHO, all that easy for them to roam about Singapore for over 2 years completely undetected, as long as people were looking.<br />I recall the case of the Houston Heights serial killings in the early 1970s-- over 20 boys went missing in the same neighbourhood and none of the authorities saw a larger pattern unfolding, because the immediate assumption was, despite parents&#39; pleas, that the missing boys were runaways. At least they had a bit of an excuse (sort of); they were overwhelmed with thousands reports of missing persons reports annually at a time when runaways were becoming a nationwide problem. With 20 missing kids in comparison, there&#39;s no excuse for such a seemingly lackadaisical approach. I wonder how these cases are followed up and how long does it take for a case to go &#39;cold&#39;. <br />It seems that in the case of the still missing Felicia Teo, friends and relatives had gone on an intense search for any clues themselves and fed the authorities as much information as they could, none of which was followed up on. The story hit the press due to the efforts of family and friends who were frustrated by the lack of action taken.Pippinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09037207774855654139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242799495369131861.post-49257863939967701292009-06-19T18:27:38.796+08:002009-06-19T18:27:38.796+08:00<i><br />This is a very good issue for discussion. There must be a reason why this has been seemingly swept under the rug. Perhaps the authorities feel (due to assumptions based on experience) that the missing persons are runaways?<br /><br />This typical reaction could be since &#39;Singapore is a safe country&#39; and the people (authorities included) here are far-removed from potential realities - they only know what they can see.<br /></i>Gangahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06140398563083588880noreply@blogger.com