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Yong Vui Kong files affidavit alleging unequal treatment
Mar. 7 | Yong Vui Kong has filed an affidavit alleging unequal treatment by the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) after further evidence concerning his “boss” Chia Choon Leng was brought to light. The AGC initially brought 26 charges...
Foreign drug offenders facing death in Singapore
Sep. 15 | ~by: Patrick Gallahue/Human Rights Analyst~ A survey of countries that enforce the death penalty for drug offences reveals that in many nations the majority or even entirety of those facing execution are foreigners. In a follow-up to its landmark survey...
The much overlooked No Man’s Land between the MDP and calls for its abolition
Jan. 4 | The following is a letter to TOC regarding the Mandatory Death Penalty and our campaign: I refer to the first section of Kirsten Han’s article ‘2010 in Review’ posted on 31 December 2010. I’ve always been an avid reader of TOC, but I feel that...
Vignes Mourthi – seven years on
Nov. 29 | Andrew Loh - When the tears fell from her eyes, it broke my heart – and that of those who had come to pay her and her family a visit. Everyone was silent. Even I, who was interviewing her, could not bear to ask her the next question. In all four years...
Youth for Second Chances
Sep. 24 | We Believe In Second Chances is a youth-led, youth-oriented campaign in Singapore focusing on being young, enjoying life and being allowed to try again when we fail. The Youth for Second Chances video was created during Yellow Ribbon Month 2010. Young...
Death Penalty for drug offences decline but hundreds still executed
May. 17 | A comprehensive study released today by the International Harm Reduction Association finds that hundreds of people are executed for drug offences each year around the world, a figure that very likely exceeds one thousand when taking into account...
Prejudicing a fair trial? The Yong Vui Kong case
May. 15 | “Yong Vui Kong is young. But if we say ‘We let you go’, what is the signal we are sending?” With these words on 9 May 2010, Law Minister Mr K. Shanmugam tread where no right-minded Singapore politician ought to have gone – commenting...
Death penalty serves no demonstrable criminal justice purpose
May. 15 | The International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) has expressed its deep regret at the decision of the Singapore Court of Appeals to retain the mandatory death penalty for drug offences, a judgment that forecasts the execution of Yong Vui Kong for...
Mandatory death penalty constitutional, says court
May. 14 | The Court of Appeal today has rejected the appeal of Yong Vui Kong and declared that the mandatory death penalty is constitutional. Yong had appealed against his death sentence for drug trafficking. In a landmark ruling, Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong...
The slippery slope, the greasy pole
May. 12 | Reading Today‘s report on what Law Minister K Shanmugam said, regarding the (mandatory) death penalty, makes one rather sad. The minister, it seems, has chosen to put out a soundbite and ignored all the nuances, issues and questions which have...
My clarification on the Al-Jazeera issue
May. 1 | I (Ravi Philemon) wrote the following letter to The Straits Times forum page but it was not published. —My Letter— I was the person interviewed and featured in the Al-Jazeera news clip. I was however interviewed in my capacity as a community...
Do you want me to stay at the beach?
Apr. 8 | “Do you want me to stay at the beach?” retorted Jacob, when the officer from Housing and Development Board (HDB) informed him a few days ago that he would soon have to vacate the place he has been calling his home for the last one year at Havelock...
Singapore policies force some onto streets
Apr. 5 | Al Jazeera reports on the homelessness issue in Singapore. Singapore is a nation of homeowners, largely thanks to a comprehensive system of government subsidised housing. But despite the system’s overall success, the strict rules also mean that...
ASEAN human rights commission stumbles at first hurdle
Mar. 31 | The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) recently set up its own Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights. You may remember Amnesty’s and other NGOs’ campaigning to ensure that its mandate would be effective in addressing...
Yong Vui Kong – the defence’s argument
Mar. 28 | By Andrew Loh Lawyer Mr Madasamy Ravi, who is acting for Yong Vui Kong, the Malaysian who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking, made an impassioned plea in the hearing of 15 March 2010 at the Court of Appeal. Mr Ravi’s case centered on the argument...
Poor? Government “will deliver meals to you”
Mar. 28 | By Andrew Loh This article is updated with the video of the minister’s remarks. (Please see below). Read also: Vivian Balakrishnan – Wannabe tough guy’s fall from grace on TOC Facebook. At a forum organised by REACH, the government’s...
Do heartlanders support the Mandatory Death Penalty?
Mar. 24 | On the 20th of March 2010, TOC TV headed to Toa Payoh to speak to the heartlanders. We were interested to find out what their understanding of the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking was, and if they supported it. However, many of the answers...
The Moratorium on the Mandatory Death Penalty campaign
Mar. 23 | TOC’s MDP Campaign Video For easier access, the following is a listing of all the articles and videos published on TOC regarding the Mandatory Death Penalty. THE DEFENCE’S CASE: Main Submissions. Applicant’s Submission. Appellant’s...
When discretion could have saved a life: the case of Rozman bin Jusoh
Mar. 23 | By Mohan Gopalan On 24 November 1993, an undercover officer from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) approached Rozman bin Jusoh, a 22-year-old Malaysian, asking him if he had cannabis. Rozman told the officer that he did not have any cannabis. Undeterred...
Presumed; presumption; deemed – and we take your life
Mar. 22 | For those of you (or your friends) who wonder why we’re against the Mandatory Death Penalty for drugs trafficking, here are the reasons – the many presumption clauses in the Misuse of Drugs Act. (You can view the entire Act here.) Count the...
Performing law
Mar. 19 | The following article was written by Alex Au and published on his website, Yawning Bread, on January 2007. We highlight it here to raise concerns, as Alex did back then, about the mandatory death penalty. By Alex Au Once more, a life is taken. Iwuchukwu...
Do we not have room for remorse, repentence and conversion?
Mar. 17 | By Andrew Loh I have been wondering why the Singapore government has been reluctant to abolish the mandatory death penalty, or at least impose a moratorium on it. It is obvious to anyone familiar with how the MDP is practised in Singapore that there...
M Ravi: Death penalty should not be dispensed ‘in an automated, robotic, spasmodic approach’
Mar. 16 | By Yini Chua At the appeal hearing for Yong Vui Kong today, the Court of Appeal, consisting of Chief Justice Chan Sek Long, Justices of Appeal Andrew Phang Boon Leong and VK Raja, chose to reserve its judgment instead of delivering a verdict. Yong is...
Judges reserve judgement in Yong’s mandatory death penalty appeal
Mar. 15 | By Wong Chun Han The Court of Appeal reserved judgement today in the case of convicted Malaysian drug mule Yong Vui Kong, who has challenged the constitutionality of the mandatory death sentence he received. Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong told a packed...
Discretion to the judges – judgment reserved
Mar. 15 | By Kirsten Han p style=”text-align: justify;”>It’s a “slippery slope” argued Attorney-General (AG) Walter Woon; the thin edge of the wedge which pitted the legislature against the judiciary. With the multiple notices around Singapore’s...
Singapore’s Court of Appeal reserves judgment in Vui Kong’s appeal hearing
Mar. 15 | BREAKING: The Court of Appeal has heard Yong Vui Kong’s appeal. After hearing submissions from Mr M Ravi, representing Yong, and the response from Attorney-General Walter Woon for the prosecution, the Court has reserved judgement for a later date. Look...
“For me, I’m hoping for a miracle”
Mar. 14 | From Lianain Films It’s a little surreal, receiving a letter from death row. But the message is upbeat. There isn’t a hint of self-pity. No plea for mercy. Rather, the boy thanks everyone for their generosity and support. “I made a mistake because...
The story of a boy
Mar. 13 | Yong Vui Kong’s appeal hearing takes place at 10am on Monday, 15 March 2010. By Andrew Loh Yong Vui Kong was 12 when he left his grandfather’s palm oil estate “deep in the forests of Sabah” in Malaysia to strike it out on his own. He had had...
TOC Editorial: Gopalan Nair’s despicable hoax
Mar. 8 | By Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-at-large On 6 March 2010, Mr Gopalan Nair asserted that sources had informed him that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had suffered a massive heart attack and had been warded in intensive care at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH)....
Malay homelessness – who was the quicker finger-pointer?
Mar. 6 | By Joshua Chiang Imran sold his flat for a profit. With the money, he rented a bungalow in Johor Bahru and even bought a car. Two years later, his money was spent, and he was back in Singapore, homeless. Imran could be what Senior Parliamentary Secretary...
No convincing reason to believe that the MDP works
Mar. 3 | By Wong Chun Han The Online Citizen speaks to Professor Michael Hor who teaches at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law. His areas of research include criminal law, evidence and constitutional law. He has published several academic...
A moratorium is not an insult to national sovereignty
Mar. 1 | By Leong Sze Wah At the start of this year, Mongolia’s President Tsakhia Elbegdorg suspended executions with the aim of reviewing death penalty sentences. He went on to declare his intention to abolish the death penalty altogether. “The Road to...
Crime and punishment
Mar. 1 | The following is part two of a speech by the president of the Law Society, Mr Michael Hwang, in 2008 titled, “Crime and Punishment” (read part one here and part two here) The extent to which an offender ought to be punished cannot be determined...
Side-stepping the death penalty
Feb. 27 | The following article was first published on Yawning Bread in 2008 By Alex Au In the last 18 months or so, I had the growing feeling, looking at murder cases before the courts, that the prosecution has been bending over backwards to accommodate pleas...
Practices surrounding the death penalty for drugs troubling
Feb. 26 | The following are excerpts from “DEATH, DRUGS, MURDER AND THE CONSTITUTION” by Professor Michael Hor of the National University of Singapore’s Law Faculty. You can read the entire chapter here. Note: pictures, paragraphing and emphases are TOC’s. ...
The legal canon of death
Feb. 25 | The following article is Part One of a two-part report which looks at the provisions in the Misuse of Drugs Act and certain processes of law regarding the application of the mandatory death penalty. By Khairulanwar Zaini Drug trials hardly elicit any...
The long drop and the hangman’s ritual
Feb. 24 | By Vicki Yang The sandbag. The boiled hemp rope. The lubricated knot. The white hood. These may be the things Singapore’s only hangman, Darshan Singh, lays out before the actual execution of a judicial hanging. The rituals of a judicial hanging in Singapore...
TOC Editorial – A call to suspend all executions
Feb. 24 | MORATORIUM ON MDP: The Online Citizen calls on the Singapore Government to impose a moratorium on all executions for those sentenced under the Mandatory Death Penalty (MDP). Our Special Focus Week the next 7 days or so urges the Singapore Government...
Cultural revolutions, wilting flowers
Feb. 16 | By Choo Zheng Xi (Editor-At-Large) and KJ We wonder if Rear-Admiral Lui Tuck Yew knows that our city was the subject of a Hollywood film. No, not Ivan Heng’s cameo in Luc Besson’s Fifth Element, but a full Hollywood film shot on scene in Singapore. In...
Take a stand for moderation, liberty, and genuine understanding
Feb. 13 | By Choo Zheng Xi, Editor-At-Large I felt deeply angry when I saw the videos of Pastor Rony Tan deriding Buddhists in his church. A place of worship was used to propagate misinformation and ignorance. A faith of love and acceptance was being used as a...
Homeless people are “defective”, needs “rehabilitation”?
Feb. 12 | Andrew Loh The response from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the National Parks Board (Nparks) to a letter by Mr Joshua Chiang on the issue of the homeless is, to say the least,...
MFA update on accident involving Romanian embassy vehicle
Feb. 12 | The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned HE Aurelian Neagu, the Romanian Ambassador to Singapore (who is based in Tokyo), to MFA on 11 February 2010 on the matter of the two hit-and-run traffic accidents on 15 December 2009 that involved the Romanian...
ST Forum letter on homeless situation and official reply
Feb. 11 | ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN The Homeless Deserve Better Treatment Letter from Joshua Chiang as published in the Sunday Times on 8 Feb 2010 As a private citizen who is working with other concerned individuals to aid and raise awareness for the homeless in Singapore,...
Public housing flats – Singaporeans come first or foreigners?
Feb. 7 | Andrew Loh If you have always thought the homeless are lazy people or are unemployed on purpose, perhaps you have bought into the stereotype of these people too conveniently. Yet it is not uncommon to find such views of the homeless among Singaporeans. However,...
Nowhere else to turn
Feb. 6 | Joshua Chiang The first thing you would notice about Rahim (not his real name) is the slight bulge on the left side of his T-shirt. As he lifts his shirt to reveal an ostomy bag attached to the side of his abdomen, Rahim tells us the pouch collects...
SERS flats to be rented out to foreigners again – this time in Bedok
Feb. 4 | Andrew Loh / Leong Sze Hian / Special thanks to Lynn Lee “If everybody jumps onto this safety net, whether they deserve to or they don’t, that safety net is going to break. … They could easily afford a studio apartment or a small resale flat....
HDB’s inflexible policies will result in more homeless S’poreans
Feb. 3 | Andrew Loh / Leong Sze Hian / Picture from Wikimedia ‘There’s no question that our policies are designed for the good of the people. While there may be certain parts of the policies that are not favourable, overall, I think these policies...
The curious case of Block 29
Feb. 2 | Andrew Loh / Joshua Chiang “The Government’s first responsibility is to Singaporeans.” – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, New Year Message, 2010. On 18 January, officers from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) moved...
“The government’s first responsibility is to Singaporeans”
Feb. 1 | Andrew Loh / Pictures by Joshua Chiang So, the homeless at Sembawang Park have been relocated to HDB flats. All seem to be well. And on the surface, at least, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, should be congratulated for stepping...
