1 June 2005
Irena Makarova asks if the death penalty is a deterrent to drug smugglers.
The fact that Singapore executes more people per head of population than any other country shows that it is not.
I would attribute the high number of executions to the facts that firstly Singapore has more crimes punishable by death than any other country, and secondly that once someone has been sentenced to death they will be hanged, they won’t get off if they have a clever lawyer and people don’t spend over a decade on death row like they do in America.
By the way I was surprised to learn that tobacco is legal in Singapore, considering that firstly people can be executed for trafficking other dangerous drugs, and secondly chewing gum is illegal because it causes a major litter problem, but so are cigarette ends.
I have still not received replies from the Attorney General, the Minister of Law and the Chief Justice. Did anyone else write to these people, and if so did you get a reply?
CLIVE