SINGAPORE - The entrance of a thin, balding man into court yesterday lifted the veil on the person believed to be "The Messiah".
Dressed smartly in a long-sleeved shirt and pants, and sporting a slight beard, James Raj Arokiasamy scanned the public gallery in court. His eyes did not settle on anyone.
The 35-year-old Singaporean was yesterday charged with hacking the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website on Oct 28 this year.
Court documents said that he accessed the content-management system of the website and modified its contents by adding an image of a Guy Fawkes mask and two banners with text.
One of the banners read: "I have been to various sites and seen how they take the initiative to secure their systems. You have a brain & you have money. You had a choice. Don't blame external factors(Anonymous) for this hack. The Messiah ;)".
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tang Shangjun said that James suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), borderline personality disorder, suicidal tendencies and depression, and also "sees things flashing".
He asked that James be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). But when he was given a chance to speak later, James denied having the conditions, save for "mild ADHD" when he was younger.
He said that his words were taken "out of context". He told the court that he mentioned the other conditions in response to being asked what the worst-case scenario would be for untreated ADHD."
It is good to learn that Singapore law enforcement agencies are very efficient in catching 'open challenge' by laws breakers. The news about 5 other people in 2 groups were been arrested for and/or assisting in the investigation of other hacking incidents involving the Istana (aka Presidential Palace/Residence?), PM's Facebook sub-page, etc are good news too.
Lessons for me are:
1. if you want to challenge the law enforcement authorities, better be preapred that they will catch you if you are not good enough. This is reality and not some fictitious 'spy' movies you are fed with from Hollywood! In fact, one of their own, Mr Snowden, spilled the beans about 'USA tapping ally's communication system' shows that 'unless nobody did it, otherwise someone will reveal it';
2. is he really having some mental health issues? If so, he needs help instead of prosecution. Let's see how things develop in this particular case. It is also interested to note that the 'fearless' lawyer who is defending him has 'mental health issues' too. Some even attribute this lawyer's 'fearlessness' to his 'mental health issues'. So, sometime it takes great 'mental health' to be courageous!? :-);
3. are there deeper underlying reasons for this young man to 'hack' into some public websites and make a statement about something? is he just an isolated case or that many folks like him are somehow unhappy about the state of Singapore? What are the angsts? Are they, from a normal person's perspective, really issues that make people go 'mental'? I am not sure. There are obviously issues to be resolved and tackled by the government of the 'bread and butter' kind. Not sure if it is ever the intellectual deficiency kind.
Messiah he is not as he is in detention at the IMH for the next 2 weeks. Maybe it is just another 'flavour' of the day case and no one will remember this by next January?
Dressed smartly in a long-sleeved shirt and pants, and sporting a slight beard, James Raj Arokiasamy scanned the public gallery in court. His eyes did not settle on anyone.
The 35-year-old Singaporean was yesterday charged with hacking the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website on Oct 28 this year.
Court documents said that he accessed the content-management system of the website and modified its contents by adding an image of a Guy Fawkes mask and two banners with text.
One of the banners read: "I have been to various sites and seen how they take the initiative to secure their systems. You have a brain & you have money. You had a choice. Don't blame external factors(Anonymous) for this hack. The Messiah ;)".
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tang Shangjun said that James suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), borderline personality disorder, suicidal tendencies and depression, and also "sees things flashing".
He asked that James be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). But when he was given a chance to speak later, James denied having the conditions, save for "mild ADHD" when he was younger.
He said that his words were taken "out of context". He told the court that he mentioned the other conditions in response to being asked what the worst-case scenario would be for untreated ADHD."
It is good to learn that Singapore law enforcement agencies are very efficient in catching 'open challenge' by laws breakers. The news about 5 other people in 2 groups were been arrested for and/or assisting in the investigation of other hacking incidents involving the Istana (aka Presidential Palace/Residence?), PM's Facebook sub-page, etc are good news too.
Lessons for me are:
1. if you want to challenge the law enforcement authorities, better be preapred that they will catch you if you are not good enough. This is reality and not some fictitious 'spy' movies you are fed with from Hollywood! In fact, one of their own, Mr Snowden, spilled the beans about 'USA tapping ally's communication system' shows that 'unless nobody did it, otherwise someone will reveal it';
2. is he really having some mental health issues? If so, he needs help instead of prosecution. Let's see how things develop in this particular case. It is also interested to note that the 'fearless' lawyer who is defending him has 'mental health issues' too. Some even attribute this lawyer's 'fearlessness' to his 'mental health issues'. So, sometime it takes great 'mental health' to be courageous!? :-);
3. are there deeper underlying reasons for this young man to 'hack' into some public websites and make a statement about something? is he just an isolated case or that many folks like him are somehow unhappy about the state of Singapore? What are the angsts? Are they, from a normal person's perspective, really issues that make people go 'mental'? I am not sure. There are obviously issues to be resolved and tackled by the government of the 'bread and butter' kind. Not sure if it is ever the intellectual deficiency kind.
Messiah he is not as he is in detention at the IMH for the next 2 weeks. Maybe it is just another 'flavour' of the day case and no one will remember this by next January?
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