A Merc built like a Panzer tank?

The ICA (Immigration and Checkpoints Authority) is not having a good run of late. It needs a breakthrough in improving its image... Oops! I mean it needs to stop breakthroughs and improve its image. Maybe it can take a leaf from this macho man that a certain former US state governor (on the distaff side) goes all wobbly about:

No, I am not suggesting that ICA officers prance about, bare-chested, on horses. They just need to show that they look tough and will be tough on lawbreakers who tailgate or crash through tough-as-claws barriers into the Singapore heartland. Maybe something like Dirty Harry's "Go ahead, make my day" tough image. Maybe a tagline like "Ai See, Eh?"! [Hokkien for "So, you wanna die?"]

So what am I ranting about? This story...

Before I continue with my main thread here, I'll nitpick on two things I would not have allowed in terms of good journalistic practice: First, that careless use of the word "probe" again -- in the sub-head. 4 others being probed!! Wah, the suspect got off lightly, if you ask me. He only got arrested.

Secondly, there's this "pluck-out" quote:

It makes Mr Lau Peet Meng look silly. It was a good quote until he started making a comparison with "someone walking down Orchard Road". Huh?? The editors must have thought that was cute. It is not. Mr Lau's quote was perfectly fine if it had been kept to the first part.

Back to my thread. So there's this Ah Pek (64 years old) in a 25-year-old Mercedes-Benz who allegedly crashed through a "crash-tested" barrier designed to stop trucks (yes, trucks up to six tonnes, not just cars and pick-ups, as in the story above) and disappeared into the heartland (for five hours).

This time, though, taxi drivers were roped in to help look out for this handsome Ah Pek (he was described as dashing, right?):

After his arrest, the accused was charged in court today (March 10). This story and the ad beside it caught my eye...

Two of the Mercedes' tyres had been ripped out in the escape. It must have been a bumpy getaway. Now cue in to the ad above:

Very good! It got me musing about how Mercedes-Benz (well, Cycle and Carriage here in Singapore) might capitalise on the remarkable Panzer tank-like capability of that 25-year-old car and come up with a sales pitch. I think these two ads I found online serve as suitable models:

Two wheels gone? No worries, carry on!

Meet the real Transformer... from mild sedan car to barrier-smashing SUV!

My MB take end here. I'll wrap up with that picture of Putin again. There was this story about him in today's ST:

So, world leaders, be warned. As the song from The Police (not the real mata but the one with Sting's vocals) puts it so eloquently, "I'll be watching you, every breath you take, every move you make."

And there's such a job as a "certified movement analyst"? Sheesh.