Comments on: Singapore retreats from mandatory death penalty by an inch

By: ape@kinjioleaf

ape@kinjioleaf — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 03:59:04 +0000

Alex, you’re not wrong to say I cannot support execution.

Actually, if put on a scale, I’m extremely slanted towards ‘No’ to execution. But I also subscribe to the cliche ‘Never say never’.

By: Samson

Samson — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:40:19 +0000

An important reason why judges must be given discretion over the death penalty is that Indonesian maids cannot be hanged. The political cost is simply unacceptable. Everytime one of these maids commit murder, the govt will have a headache trying to find an excuse for her. Most of the time, they will simply reduce her age. With the amendment, it will be easy.

By: B_Tiger

B_Tiger — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:02:07 +0000

Does anyone here perhaps those working in the air transport industry know whether the mandatory announcement before touch down will be abolished too? It’s a damn dowser for one to come home or to visit our lovely Garden City to be reminded of the MDP before one even has a chance to smell the flowers.

By: me

me — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 04:49:23 +0000

I think it is still a step forward even in some miniscule way ..

By: Anon 2v33

Anon 2v33 — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 01:24:55 +0000

These are the 60% “SILENT MAJORITY”. They have no views and do not bother to know the different between mandatory death sentence and death sentence. Will support as long as PAP supports.

By: Tsumujikaze no Soujutsu

Tsumujikaze no Soujutsu — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:24:24 +0000

Well, kidnapping IS a capital offence here. But I truly doubt Government is about to add this one into part of the equation.

By: Tsumujikaze no Soujutsu

Tsumujikaze no Soujutsu — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:21:16 +0000

Well, to be fair, nobody expected this coming from the Government itself. So I’m not about to jump the gun until the results are far more clear cut.

By: Passerby

Passerby — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:11:21 +0000

It should be pretty clear that this move is driven not by humanitarian reasons. Dead men tell no tales. Certainly not about the puppet masters that send these drug traffickers across the borders when the latter lie stone cold at the morgue.

This change allows the couriers to buy their life with information. I reckon they had no incentive to help the authorities when, whatever they did to help the police, they would be facing death anyway. With this amendment, the drug runners will be more likely to sing.

By: george

george — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:05:19 +0000

Isn’t kidnapping a crime capital crime here?

By: Passerby

Passerby — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:59:27 +0000

SN said,

“If this statement is meant to be prescriptive, then I think you have overreached yourself. Why stop at withholding “support (of) any execution”? On these grounds, any conviction would be questionable from the point of view of justice, given that “there is no way anyone can TOTALLY [sic] eliminate the chance that there’s been a mistaken identity or a misreading of a person’s psychological state or intent.”

I doubt anyone here who advocates the abolition of capital punishment is basing their convictions on the impossibility of the courts to find with 100% certainty the guilt of the accused. A wrongly convicted prisoner serving jail time can be released, albeit with time spent in jail lost forever. Can a wrongly convicted individual who is executed be resurrected? Tell an urn of ashes, “Oops, my bad”?

There’s a certain finality to taking a life compared to jail time that you don’t seem to appreciate.