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Tri Continental Film Festival 2008
July 25 - 30, 2008
Goa, India
http://www.moviesgoa.org/page/tri_continental/
http://www.moviesgoa.org/tricon/schedule_2008.pdf
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3. Punishing the guilty as direct 'Retribution'
In many countries (specially traditional ones), the guilty are subjected to
quick corporal punishment instead of lengthy period of incarceration /
imprisonment. In 1994 an American youth called Fay, residing in Singapore was
convicted of vandalism and subjected to Singapore's legal justice. This
created and international uproar, especially in the USA.
For Vandalism, Singapore justice and its response to the world, please see the
following web-link; part of which is reproduced below:
http://www.corpun.com/awfay9405.htm
Singapore government had its reply: "Unlike some other societies which may
tolerate acts of vandalism, Singapore has its own standards of social order as
reflected in our laws. It is because of our tough laws against anti-social
crimes that we are able to keep Singapore orderly and relatively crime-free."
The statement noted that in the past five years, fourteen young men aged 18 to
21, twelve of whom were Singaporean, had been sentenced to caning for
vandalism. Fay's arrest and sentencing shook the American community in
Singapore. Schools advised parents to warn their children not to get into
trouble. The American Chamber of Commerce said "We simply do not understand how
the government can condone the permanent scarring of any 18-year-old boy --
American or Singaporean -- by caning for such an offense." Two dozen American
senators signed a letter to Ong on Fay's behalf.
But according to a string of polls, Fay's caning sentence struck a chord in the
U.S. Many Americans fed up with rising crime in their cities actually supported
the tough punishment. Singapore's embassy in Washington said that the mail it
had received was overwhelmingly approving of the tough sentence. And a radio
call-in survey in Fay's hometown of Dayton, Ohio, was strongly pro-caning.
It wasn't long before Singapore patriarch Lee Kuan Yew weighed in. He reckoned
the whole affair revealed America's moral decay. "The U.S. government, the U.S.
Senate and the U.S. media took the opportunity to ridicule us, saying the
sentence was too severe," he said in a television interview. "[The U.S.] does
not restrain or punish individuals, forgiving them for whatever they have done.
That's why the whole country is in chaos: drugs, violence, unemployment and
homelessness. The American society is the richest and most prosperous in the
world but it is hardly safe and peaceful."
The debate over caning put a spotlight on Singapore's legal system. Lee and the
city-state's other leaders are committed to harsh punishments. Preventive
detention laws allow authorities to lock up suspected criminals without trial.
While caning is mandatory in cases of vandalism, rape and weapons offenses, it
is also prescribed for immigration violations such as overstaying visas and
hiring of illegal workers. The death penalty is automatic for drug trafficking
and firing a weapon while committing a crime. At dawn on May 13, six Malaysians
were hanged for drug trafficking, bringing to seventeen the number executed for
such offenses so far this year, ten more than the total number of prisoners
executed in all of 1993.
Most Singaporeans accept their brand of rough justice. Older folk readily speak
of the way things were in the 1950s and 1960s when secret societies and gangs
operated freely. Singapore has succeeded in keeping crime low. Since 1988,
government statistics show there has been a steady decline in the crime rate
from 223 per 100,000 residents to 175 per 100,000 last year. Authorities are
quick to credit their tough laws and harsh penalties for much of that. End of
quote
Please see the above web-link for the entire story and related issues on the
philosophy and practice of corporal punishment.
Regards, GL
