Singapore, you have nothing to apologize

Categories: Singapore

Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged yesterday (2 Dec) in Singapore for drug trafficking. His death sentence was widely condemned by the Australian public with the Australian government sending several appeals; all to no avail. Why was there so much protest for a convicted drug trafficker?

It is well-known that all convicted drug traffickers caught with more than 100 g of heroin and other drugs faces the death penalty. Travellers flying into Singapore are told of the death penalty on arrival. If they travel by land there is a signboard with similar warning prominently displayed. Therefore there is no reason to plead ignorance. If one is a trafficker, I am sure he would have done a detailed study of the law of the countries that he would have to transit and surely he would have known about the death sentence for drug trafficking in both Malaysia and Singapore. If he still chooses to traffic drugs via these two countries, then he should be prepared to face the consequences.

The legal system in Singapore is respected by countries around the world including Australia. Therefore it seemed somewhat strange for the Australian government to try to intervene and to have the death sentence overturned. Whether the Australian government is agreeable or not, due process of the Singapore law had taken place and a sentence had been pronounced. These laws, like the Australian law, are based on the British law; legacy of a shared colonial past.

By trafficking drugs Nguyen had indirectly sentence his fellow Australian drug abusers to death. As is widely known, once a person is addicted to drugs, his life is forever condemned. Not only will he need to get money, legally or otherwise, to foot his addiction, his general health is compromised with early death inevitable. Why aren't Australian crying out against drug traffickers sentencing their innocent fellow citizens to death? To be blunt, why try to save one heartless and 'brutal' condemned man from death when many more innocent lives can be 'saved'. Why make a 'murderer' a martyr?

I am proud that the Singapore government did not back down on this issue. Due warning had been issued and the Nguyen knew where he stood when he chose to transit through Singapore. If the government had backed down on this issue, then the Singapore government will be seen as weak and Singapore today may not be as safe and secure as what foreigners had come to expect and envied. Furthermore it will have to explain to its citizens and other foreigners why Australian are treated differently for the same offence.

Singapore, you have nothing to apologize.