Hanging and after

The silence was deafening. There was not a word on the Singapore blogger bulletin, Tomorrow, which was grieving for one of its own -- a local blogger who died of illness -- nor, as far as I could see, on local "alternative" news and commentary sites such as Little Speck and New Sintercom. It was left to the mainstream media to report the news.

"Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged at the city-state's Changi prison just before dawn," reported Reuters."Within minutes, a large church bell in Nguyen's home city of Melbourne tolled 25 times -- once for every year of his life", mourning his execution. But it must have been lonely for the Vietnamese-born Australian drug trafficker's family and friends who came to Singapore. His twin brother -- to pay off whose debts he claimed to have been smuggling heroin when he was caught at Changi airport while flying back from Cambodia to Australia in 2002 -- was at the prison with a lawyer, though they could not witness the execution, while his mother prayed with friends at a Singapore chapel. "Singapore activists moved in pairs overnight to light candles at the prison," added Reuters. "Public gatherings of more than four people require a police permit in the tightly controlled city-state."

But for most of us here in Singapore, life went on as usual. There was no reason why it should not have been like any other day. We all have to get along as best as we can.

Besides, as Reuters noted, "Some 420 people have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug trafficking, an Amnesty International 2004 report said. That gives the country of 4.4 million people the highest execution rate in the world relative to population." According to the BBC, "The rate is three times that of Saudi Arabia, the next country on the list."

But statistics don't tell the whole story. Singapore is not like Saudi Arabia. It is a small, beautiful country with law and order, where people are safe. Those who wanted to pray and hold a candlelight vigil did do so.

Even in Australia, according to reports, opinions were divided. Nguyen was caught with 400 grams of heroin, enough to supply 26,000 doses of the deadly drug, carrying a street value of $768,000, reported Singapore's Channel NewsAsia television channel. The death penalty is mandatory in such cases in Singapore, and the government saw no reason not to let the law take its course.

Yes, Singapore is beautiful and inviting but tough, as a blogger wrote from Holland who knows Singapore. "If you want to see the heart and soul of Singapore, wander not through (glitzy) Millenia Walk or Suntec City, but through the narrow roads of China Town or Little India,'' says Dutch Diary. It's an interesting blog. I found it by following a link from Tomorrow. A local blogger obviously found the blog interesting enough to post a link to it for other local bloggers to read. Singaporeans sometimes let others speak for them.