Thursday, December 01, 2005

Time is Running Out

For Australian Nguyen Tuong Van, time is running out. Tomorrow morning Singapore time he will be hanged. His crime? Importing heroin. The debate between Australia, which does not have the death penalty, and Singapore, which obviously does, has been fast and furious, but in the end the Singapore government will not be moved. It seems this 25 year old former refugee will be dead tomorrow.
Now, I am against the death penalty. I don't feel that anything is gained by state sanctioned murder even in the most extreme cases of serial killers or supreme sadists. With pro death penalty advocates, there seems to be an almost sickening 'eye for an eye' attitude which I believe undermines our humanity, deep I know...
Still even advocates of the death penalty may be shocked that a simple drug smuggler is going to be hanged. The argument is that a drug dealer or smuggler is bringing misery to many people and so should be punished. Well, in the end, where is the responsibility? These people are only feeding a demand. Instead of killing people, maybe governments like Singapore should look at why there is a demand in their country.

San Nakji for President!

5 comments:

Paulsouth said...

Exactly. Here there are so few jobs for those who leave education without qualifications, that going into crime, usually involving drugs, or the vice industry, are the only ways of making money.

minty clorets said...

this was mentioned somewhere but despite singapore's tough law against possession of drugs, drug smuggling and usage have been increasing, not descreasing..

Anonymous said...

It's less than ninety minutes away now...

The Gig said...

You have my vote.

I don't believe in Capital Punishment either and especially for a drug smuggler. They need to let go and let God.

San Nakji said...

Thanks for all your comments. He has now been hanged. It is a sad day really...