Photo of vandalised SMRT train draws questions
A photo of the SMRT train vandalised last month has sparked questions on the identity of the culprit.
The picture, which showed the train carriage spray-painted with the words "Jet Setter's", was similar in style to the SMRT train that was targeted at Changi Depot in May last year.
Based on the photo, the graffiti appeared to be 8m long and 1m high. In the previous incident, the words "Mckoy Banos" were sprayed on, reported The Straits Times.
When asked about the photo, published by Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao on its website on Wednesday, an SMRT spokesman said, “Police investigations are still ongoing and we are not the appropriate party to comment on it.”
One of SMRT's staff discovered the vandalised train carriage at Bishan depot on 17 August.
Home-grown graffiti artist Mazlan Ahmad, 35, said the latest graffiti was the standard application of a quick “throw up”, which refers to an outline with some painting involved. He added that most of such applications look similar.
Last year, artists had also described the Mckoy Banos graffiti as a throw up and that they were also recognised as a signature tag for two artists. While not much is known about the identity of McKoy, Banos is believed to be a Briton.
However, in regard to the latest picture, graffiti artists including Mazlan said they do not know of any artist bearing the Jet Setter’s moniker.
Saying that he has not heard of the signature either, another local graffiti artist who declined to be named said the Jet Setter’s graffiti would have taken about 10 minutes to complete.
He added that it could be a term used along with the artist’s signature, noting that graffiti artists who do illegal art may use different tags.
The Bishan incident was the second time a security lapse had occurred within the SMRT’s premises. This prompted the transport operator to set up an independent committee to do a comprehensive review of its security management.
Police investigations are ongoing and no arrests have been made in relation to this incident and it remains unclear if one or more persons were involved.
