Boys and girls. It’s still important to read the news as we can learn new things every day. The latest term I’ve learned is Interpol Red Notice. What is Interpol Red Notice? We’ll come to that in a while.
Indonesian authorities arrested a Chinese man sought by Beijing for allegedly helping transfer and laundering almost $18 million from a criminal online gambling group in China. Yan Zhenxing 闫振兴 was detained Monday by immigration officers at a cross-border ferry terminal on Batam island, next to Singapore. Yuldi Yusman, the Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement said that Yan was named as a suspect by police in China’s Inner Mongolia region who allege he was involved in transferring and laundering more than 130 million Chinese Yuan ($17.8 million) from a criminal online gambling group. Yusman said Yan was handed to Indonesia’s National Central Bureau Interpol in Jakarta on Thursday and a decision to deport or to extradite him to China will take some time.
Yan Zhenxing had assumed that he would be safe in Indonesia since he had been safe in Singapore. Wrong move. Our authorities take a different view and did not think that Yan should have been arrested despite the Interpol Red Notice.
“The police would only be able to do so pursuant to an extradition request that fulfils legal requirements. We had not received any requests for assistance from the Chinese authorities,” the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a joint statement.
The agencies also clarified that no Interpol Red Notice existed when Yan was granted permanent residency in Singapore. They added that Yan is not under investigation locally and was not involved in the recent S$3 billion money laundering case that concluded on 18 November 2024.
According to the Interpol website:
A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. The individuals are wanted by the requesting member country, or international tribunal. Member countries apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person. The majority of Red Notices are restricted to law enforcement use only. Extracts of Red Notices are published at the request of the member country concerned and where the public’s help may be needed to locate an individual or if the individual may pose a threat to public safety
The part highlighted in bold tells us that our SPF is not obliged to arrest Yan. An Interpol Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. What puzzle me are:
- Does ICA not revoke the PR of someone who may be a threat to the security of the country?
- Isn’t it in the interest of the public that a a suspect of a serious crime like Yan should at least be denied entry into our country?
Talking about denial of entry, I’m reminded of this annoying influencer:
Many annoying PRCs like her are denied entry into Singapore. Still, I think that there is less harm done by allowing them to enter than allowing the likes of Yan Zhenxing to enter. We sentence drug mules to death but what about their billionaire bosses? Are they yachting around Sentosa? Shouldn’t we approach extreme wealth and economic miracles with suspicion rather than subservience and admiration? Local musician Jeremy Monteiro posted the following on Facebook:
“???? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????. ???????????? ????????????????, ???????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????????’???? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ????????????????????????????
When I told him that I would meet him at the entrance point of the festival at 7pm and pass him him the tickets so he could catch my show at 8pm, he said “can you meet me later after your show to pass me the tickets?
I’m not interested to watch your show, I just want to watch George Benson”.
Kudos for honesty
I completely ghosted him and blocked him on whatsapp. I never spoke to him or messaged him again.
He had wanted to give me a huge piece of land and build a music college for me to run and hire my dream faculty and pay me a huge salary.
I threw it all away because my self-respect is more important. Can you imagine how this guy would have treated me like a slave if I had proceeded with the project?
No regrets. I have never been more happy with my life than I am now. The project may have made me a lot of money, but would have probably shaved years off my life and I probably would be miserable.
Always listen to your heart, and do not tolerate bad behaviour from anyone even with the prospect of fantastical offers. Your self-respect is supreme.”
I would have done what Jeremy did. I guess for the same reason, I can never get rich. I don’t look down on poor people. I don’t look down on uneducated people. I don’t even look down on prostitutes. I only look down on 五毛 and “humble” bragging folks who always can’t afford to pay their friends and relatives. I detest experts who know the truth but lie through their teeth, defend the indefensible for the sake of promotions or funding. I can say without reservation that I look down on these people. It’s like prostitution, except that the harm that these 五毛 do is 100 times greater.
Our priorities are clear. We go out on a limb to catch the desperate drug mules and poor prostitutes while leaving the wealthy folks with Interpol Red Notices alone.