Largely the views of Chippla, I added some spice...
The death penalty is one of the most contentious issues in society today. In countries like the United States, it has its die hard supporters among a certain part of the political class. Similarly, there is a part of the political class in America that would want to see the death penalty (which was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976) abolished. In much of Western Europe, the death penalty was done away with between twenty and forty years ago. And there are countries which have erased the death penalty from their law books only to reinstate it later, such as the Philippines.
Like much of the world, this fellow followed the (pitiful) story about the hanging of the Australian citizen, Nguyen Tuong Van, in Singapore for the trafficking of heroin. Singapore as some of you may know is a tightly controlled but incredibly affluent society. If you've never been there you only need talk with someone objective who has. It's a place where everything works perfectly, where citizens enjoy about the highest standard of living anywhere in the world. But all this comes at a price. Rules are strictly enforced on crimes which may range from spitting out a bubble gum on the street to trafficking drugs.
Like most Asian countries, Singapore has a strict hard drugs policy. Traffickers face the full wrath of the law. To the Singaporean government, drugs are a menace to society that destroys the lives of people. Thus, an absolute zero tolerance policy, which from all indications has always been enforced, remains enshrined in Singaporean law. The
Central Narcotics Bureau of Singapore exists for this purpose. On its website, one would find updates about its activities since 2003 in ridding Singaporean society of drugs and bringing traffickers to justice.
Not everyone thinks that Singapore is as immaculate as it wants the rest of the world to believe. Its burgeoning trade and investments with Burma, a heroin trading center of the world has angered some.
This report from the News.com of Australia, challenges the government of Singapore to stop aiding the heroin trade by cutting its links with Burma. There are also those who question the authenticity of Singapore's zero tolerance to drugs. Questions such as "have the top shots been brought to book?" and "why is it that only ordinary folks ever get hanged?" may not be uncommon. None of these seem to have affected the policy of the Singaporean government.
The aim of this write-up is not to open a debate about the death penalty. (I support it anyway). Undoubtedly our opinions on the death penalty or other social issues are to a large extent shaped by our beliefs, ideologies, upbringing and environment. And no matter how much we may try denying this, it tells each time we are given the opportunity to air our views. That is why an average Singaporean may see nothing wrong in having drug traffickers executed. That is also the reason why an Iranian exile may loathe the Mullahs in his/her country. But isn't the modern world about consensus some may ask? Aren't there universal values that touch the hearts of all of humanity? Probably in the world of the future, not the world of today.
In today's world, the State is (unfortunately) all powerful. That is why it can ask its citizens to fight for it against what it perceives to be an enemy or defend it from external aggression. That is also why in some places, it has asked for the right to take away the lives of citizens it deems to be misfits or threats to society. And such misfits may range from murderers to drug traffickers. They could also be those who commit treason, about the most serious offence against the State itself. Yet some may ask "should the State or any other human institution have the right to take the life of a human being no matter the crime?" Defenders of the death penalty may reply "In a democratic society, the State is you and I. We give the lawmakers the right to have death penalty enshrined in our law books."
And though civil rights groups and religious organizations continue to fight against the death penalty, the fact is it will be with us for some time, and especially in certain parts of the world. And as long as there are no universally agreed upon laws that govern human existence on the planet, we would have to abide by the existing laws of the various pieces of lands we have come to call Nations or States.
Don't traffic drugs into any Asian country no matter how dire your situation is – it may likely cost you your life.
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