21 April 2005
My thanks to Warren for answering my question on Singapore’s military history.
If the political situation in Singapore was as volatile as, say, Israel, I would have rephrased my original comment on national service: “It is a sad fact that young men have to have their career plans interrupted by two years to do national service.”
Republican seems to think that my opposition to Britain taking part in America’s was on Iraq is at odds with my opposition to the death penalty. Taking part in the war would mean sending our own troops to their deaths and bombing innocent Iraqi civilians after all.
I agree with Republican that murder is a senseless act. However executing murderers will not make things any better for the victims’ families.
Apart from murderers, there is another group of killers I am not on the side of, and that is the people who carry out the death sentences.
I read somewhere on the internet that more than half of all the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty. When I pointed out that someone told me that nine out of ten people believe in the death penalty, what I was trying to say was that whether most countries have the death penalty or not, whether the majority of the general public believe in the death penalty or not, it doesn’t make any difference as to whether or not it is right. And yes, I am confident in my belief that the death penalty is wrong.
My comment that Singapore deserves better than the People’s Action Party wasn’t meant as a comment on Republican’s postings. It was a word of encouragement for the SDP.
CLIVE