Saturday, May 14, 2005
Death Penalty in Singapore
If you are one of those people into things like democracy, free speech, liberal rights, etc, you might be one of those people who have been totally pissed about the Shanmugam Murugesu case.
For those of you who know nuts abt it:
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/50341.asp
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/50374.asp
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/49887.asp
I belong to this online group where people post messages to everyone else in the group abt topics of interest to the group. For example, if you're into cars, you post messages about cars.
(I'm not going to name the group here coz some people might just start going there to create a mess)
Ever since the Shanmugam Murugesu case came up, people have been talking abt it in the group, from posting announcements abt the 'Death penalty' forum (our dear dr. chee was one of the guest; the moment I realised tt, I decided not to do coz I'm not big on listening to nut-cases), to updates about what Murugesu's lawyer is doing, to stories about how Murugesu's family is trying to cope, etc.
And you know... I wasn't all that passionate about the entire thing.
True, I've never been big on accusations about how the PAP sucks, about the lack of democracy here, blah-blah-blah. Call me a propaganda product if you want, but I've always believed, you cannot have your cake and eat it. We're in Southeast Asia, different culture, perceptions etc. We need some authoritarian trait in our governance if we want peace, stability, etc. If you want to beable to continue boasting about how it's relatively safe to walk around at 3a.m. in the morning here, about how clean and green we are compared to other ctys, how we do have a rather good standard of living, ability to have at least primary education etc... then you have to sacrifice some things.
I've always wondered about those people who talk so much abt liberal rights; I wonder if they're willing to starve in order to have them. I believe that i need to be surviving in order to enjoy at least some of those rights.
But don't get me wrong, I believe that some things here can be improved. For example, a more neutral press would be nice, along with a more relaxed MDA, and a few other things here and there.
And I'll like to think that I'll be more passionate about the death penalty. I mean, we're talking human lives here!
But I wasn't. And I do not know what that might indicate.
I mean, I do care abt human lives. I cried while watching the plans crash into the WTO buildings on 9/11. And yes, the tears also came when I listened to news reports abt the Boxing Day tsunamis. But when it comes to something like the death penalty...
I know if someone killed a family member or friend, I'll damn well demand the death penalty for him.. I'll even offer to be the one executing him!
(Dun look at me like I'm some crazed woman. You would too if your family was hurt coz of that person)
But drug traficking....
If say a family member died from a drug overdose... I might say, "yes, hang the man!"
But that has not (thankfully!) happened to me.
But I wonder, if that happened to one of those people who have been fighting for Murugesu, would they still be trying to help him?
Oh, you have to understand.. Murugesu was desperate... the law cannot be that blind. The law has to closely examine every single case, take all these points into consideration, before judging. His family needs him... you cannot hang a man like that!
Yes, I understand he has 2 young boys, and I do feel sad that they have to live through something like this.
But... where does it end? Anyone can come up and say, "We were forced! We had no choice! We have a family to feed!"
Then do we excuse them too?
What about that guy who pretended to ask his ex-wife to sign the divorce papers, and ended up chopping her 3 times in the neck? He could say that he was desperate or something or other... do we sympathise with that too and spare him?
The thing is... we can't.
If you say the death penalty for drug traficking is death, then that's it, end of story. Unless you have a damn good reason (I can't think of any now), you have to hang. Everyone knows the penalty for something like that... so if you're committing the crime with eyes wide open, you have to pay the price.
Having said that, I'm not condemning those who have been fighting for Murugesu. If there is something you believe in, go ahead, and fight for it.
This is one of those topics where, it's really hard to say if there's a right or wrong. It's like abortion you know... you cannot really say if it's the right or wrong thing. Sure you can be in one camp and be pro-life, for example... but it's one of those topics where you can argue about it til the cows come home, and still not beable to reach a conclusion.
Sigh.
I am one of those who supports the death penalty... Yes, if a loved one, or myself for that matter, ends up on death row, I might feel otherwise... but right now, I do believe in it.
But dun judge me and label me a heartless person because of that.
Because I still feel sorry for Murugesu's family... and I do wonder just how his kids are going to manage after this.
My heart does go out to them.
If you want to sign the "Singapore: Calls for immediate moratorium on the death penalty" petition, it can be found at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/TCAction/petition.html
I think there's some thing going around about how you can make donations to the family etc. I can't find it now, but I will look ard.
For those of you who know nuts abt it:
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/50341.asp
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/50374.asp
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/49887.asp
I belong to this online group where people post messages to everyone else in the group abt topics of interest to the group. For example, if you're into cars, you post messages about cars.
(I'm not going to name the group here coz some people might just start going there to create a mess)
Ever since the Shanmugam Murugesu case came up, people have been talking abt it in the group, from posting announcements abt the 'Death penalty' forum (our dear dr. chee was one of the guest; the moment I realised tt, I decided not to do coz I'm not big on listening to nut-cases), to updates about what Murugesu's lawyer is doing, to stories about how Murugesu's family is trying to cope, etc.
And you know... I wasn't all that passionate about the entire thing.
True, I've never been big on accusations about how the PAP sucks, about the lack of democracy here, blah-blah-blah. Call me a propaganda product if you want, but I've always believed, you cannot have your cake and eat it. We're in Southeast Asia, different culture, perceptions etc. We need some authoritarian trait in our governance if we want peace, stability, etc. If you want to beable to continue boasting about how it's relatively safe to walk around at 3a.m. in the morning here, about how clean and green we are compared to other ctys, how we do have a rather good standard of living, ability to have at least primary education etc... then you have to sacrifice some things.
I've always wondered about those people who talk so much abt liberal rights; I wonder if they're willing to starve in order to have them. I believe that i need to be surviving in order to enjoy at least some of those rights.
But don't get me wrong, I believe that some things here can be improved. For example, a more neutral press would be nice, along with a more relaxed MDA, and a few other things here and there.
And I'll like to think that I'll be more passionate about the death penalty. I mean, we're talking human lives here!
But I wasn't. And I do not know what that might indicate.
I mean, I do care abt human lives. I cried while watching the plans crash into the WTO buildings on 9/11. And yes, the tears also came when I listened to news reports abt the Boxing Day tsunamis. But when it comes to something like the death penalty...
I know if someone killed a family member or friend, I'll damn well demand the death penalty for him.. I'll even offer to be the one executing him!
(Dun look at me like I'm some crazed woman. You would too if your family was hurt coz of that person)
But drug traficking....
If say a family member died from a drug overdose... I might say, "yes, hang the man!"
But that has not (thankfully!) happened to me.
But I wonder, if that happened to one of those people who have been fighting for Murugesu, would they still be trying to help him?
Oh, you have to understand.. Murugesu was desperate... the law cannot be that blind. The law has to closely examine every single case, take all these points into consideration, before judging. His family needs him... you cannot hang a man like that!
Yes, I understand he has 2 young boys, and I do feel sad that they have to live through something like this.
But... where does it end? Anyone can come up and say, "We were forced! We had no choice! We have a family to feed!"
Then do we excuse them too?
What about that guy who pretended to ask his ex-wife to sign the divorce papers, and ended up chopping her 3 times in the neck? He could say that he was desperate or something or other... do we sympathise with that too and spare him?
The thing is... we can't.
If you say the death penalty for drug traficking is death, then that's it, end of story. Unless you have a damn good reason (I can't think of any now), you have to hang. Everyone knows the penalty for something like that... so if you're committing the crime with eyes wide open, you have to pay the price.
Having said that, I'm not condemning those who have been fighting for Murugesu. If there is something you believe in, go ahead, and fight for it.
This is one of those topics where, it's really hard to say if there's a right or wrong. It's like abortion you know... you cannot really say if it's the right or wrong thing. Sure you can be in one camp and be pro-life, for example... but it's one of those topics where you can argue about it til the cows come home, and still not beable to reach a conclusion.
Sigh.
I am one of those who supports the death penalty... Yes, if a loved one, or myself for that matter, ends up on death row, I might feel otherwise... but right now, I do believe in it.
But dun judge me and label me a heartless person because of that.
Because I still feel sorry for Murugesu's family... and I do wonder just how his kids are going to manage after this.
My heart does go out to them.
If you want to sign the "Singapore: Calls for immediate moratorium on the death penalty" petition, it can be found at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/TCAction/petition.html
I think there's some thing going around about how you can make donations to the family etc. I can't find it now, but I will look ard.
