Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long on Tuesday called on the people not to over-react to one bad incident. PM Lee spoke in Parliament and touched on the government's overall approach and accountability when lapses occur.

His speech came a day after Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng spoke in Parliament for an hour to give details about events on the day of alleged Jemaah Islamiyah militant, Mas Selamat's escape. Mr Wong also spent two hours answering questions from various Members of Parliament.

In his speech, PM Lee said: "The Government's aim is to try our best to do things right the first time."

He also stressed that several questions will have to be addressed:

• Was it a correct decision which turned out badly, because of external factors that could not have been foreseen?

• Was it an honest mistake, something that happened despite the best efforts of the officers involved?

• Was there negligence or incompetence on the part of the officers?

• Was there criminal misconduct?

• Was the cause localised mistakes by a few persons, or was it deeper: wrong institutional mindsets, or systemic weaknesses in the organisation?

Inquiries will be conducted to investigate these issues, and responsibility will be allocated based on these findings.

"We will not just blame the officers directly involved. Those with supervisory oversight, or who are responsible for flawed systems, will also be held to account," he said.

"The Minister is ultimately accountable for the policies and operations of his Ministry. But this does not mean that if a lapse occurs down the line, every level in the chain of command, up to and including the Minister should automatically be punished or removed," added the Prime Minister.

He did not exclude himself from responsibility as well, saying: "Of course the Prime Minister himself is accountable too, to Parliament and ultimately to the electorate."

However, he cautioned against a culture where officials and Ministers resign whenever a fiasco happens on their watch, as this will not fundamentally solve the problem.

PM Lee continues to support the Deputy Prime Minister and declared: "DPM Wong Kan Seng as the Minister and the Director of ISD both continue to have my full confidence."

He said: "The basic issue is whether the person is culpable. If so, we must act against him, however senior his position. But if he is not at fault, then we must have the moral courage to state so, and support him."

He admitted that the escape could have been prevented, saying: "The MHA Minister and Director ISD will now have to rectify all the operational weaknesses identified by the COI, and correct the underlying mindsets which led to these specific lapses."

Singaporeans are also asked to do their part: "I ask Singaporeans to continue giving them your full support, as you have done in the hunt for Mas Selamat."

"We will learn from the escape of Mas Selamat and recover from it. Let us pull together, grow from this experience, and emerge stronger from this," he concluded.

» Read Prime Minister Lee's full statement here