Singapore police investigating graffiti incident at Buona Vista MRT station

SINGAPORE: The underpass wall leading to Exit A of Buona Vista MRT station reportedly suffered vandalism through an extensive graffiti display.

A police investigation is currently in progress following the discovery of graffiti inside the tunnel on Tuesday (8 Aug).

The graffiti, composed of words and symbols, conveyed the message: “If 1 syringe = 1 death = 1 (hanged stick figure) HOW MANY 4 U SG GOV?”

The CNA’s video footage revealed black spray-painted words and symbols stretching over approximately 5 meters. Cones were strategically placed along the walls, while pedestrians were observed passing by.

The pedestrian tunnel reportedly lacks surveillance cameras. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) informed the media of its awareness of the incident and the filing of a police report. Subsequently, the graffiti has been removed.

The graffiti potentially reflecting opposition to Singapore’s death penalty

The message potentially alludes to Singapore’s death penalty and could be a form of protest against the recent execution of a 45-year-old citizen for drug trafficking, marking the city-state’s first execution of a woman in almost two decades.

The woman was convicted of trafficking “not less than 30.72 grams” of heroin, more than twice the volume that merits the death penalty in Singapore.

Djamani, who was sentenced in 2018, “was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel throughout the process,” according to the Central Narcotics Bureau.

She became the 15th prisoner sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This incident also marks the second instance this year of graffiti appearing on an underpass wall leading to an MRT station.

In a similar event during April, a message reading “EVR1 Knows C19 is real EVR1 MUST” was inscribed in the underpass granting access to Kent Ridge MRT station, located in proximity to the National University Hospital.