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The Forum > Article Comments > Nguyen Tuong Van - no ripples in the murky world of drugs > Comments

Nguyen Tuong Van - no ripples in the murky world of drugs : Comments

By Gillian Handley, published 25/11/2005

Gillian Handley argues Nguyen Tuong Van's death will make no difference to the drug dealers.

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Those who condemn Nguyen would think differently if it were their son or brother. And I think this is a measure of their heartlessness to other Australians as well. How sad. Will they celebrate on the day of his death as loudly as they condemn him now?
Posted by Rainier, Friday, 25 November 2005 9:23:23 PM
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Let's get some of perspective here.

Nguyen:

- Committed a non-violent crime
- Has had a clean record up until now
- Pleaded Guilty
- Showed remorse
- Is at a young, naive and sometimes stupid age
- Was trying to help his brother (not himself) as dumb as his methods were

Any sane justice system would've taken these factors into consideration - but no, not Singapore's.

It raises the question: Is it for justice? Or does the Singaporean government simply enjoy killing people? Their apparent tunnel vision in the case; along with the fact that it is a hanging rather something more peaceful like a lethal injection or dare I say - a mere prison sentence, suggests the latter.

When it comes to capital punishment, some may say "An eye for an eye". But this is more like "An eye for an eye lash".

...And before some idiot try’s to reply with: "But that much heroin could've killed many people!” Well... Coulda', Shoulda', Woulda'. Surely intent counts for something. He's hardly some murderous psycho, pinning people down and jabbing it into their veins now is he?
Posted by Space Cadet, Friday, 25 November 2005 11:08:50 PM
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"In the early hours of Dec 2, Van Tuong Nguyen will be led from his cell to the yard where he will be hanged. He may struggle or he may walk with composure. He may be given relaxants to help him stay calm.
The hangman will place a hood over his head and the noose around his neck. At 6am, the trap door will open and his body will drop and hang until it stops writhing.
When his lifeless being is taken down, his face will be purple, engorged with blood, his neck covered with lacerations, his swollen tongue protruding out of his mouth and his eyes displaced.
Involuntary ejections of urine and faeces will stain his clothes. "

This has been published today in a Malaysian newspaper today. Icecold, without any comment.

It speaks for itself.

Morpho
Posted by morpho, Friday, 25 November 2005 11:51:26 PM
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I personally do not agree that capital punishment as an absolute consequence will make no difference to the drug dealers. It is a severe, and effective deterant for those who have a conscience, respect for enforced laws and who accept there is nothing in life we do without consequences, good or bad.

Everyone has their story about hardships in their lives, but the majority of people look for postive, "legal" solutions to those hardships. There is no excuse, reasoning, or appeal, that can justify engaging in illegal activities to solve such hardships.

It's fine to say that the criminal in question should be made fully aware of his/her actions and how those actions have affected their victims, victim's families, etc. But, is that enough? No, I truly do not beleive so.

So many criminals tend to be narccisistic sociopaths who when faced with their own immortality will begin to say what they beleive everyone wants to hear in a last ditch effort to gain sympathy, mercy, and reprieve from their actions.

Nguyen Tuong Van knew what he was doing, why is irrelevant, he broke the law. The world is aware of how stringent the laws are in Singapore for drug trafficking. He took his chances and has lost. Some say for every drug dealer imprisoned or put to death, 10 take their place. Perhaps, but many more lives will be saved by making an example of Nguyen Tuong Van. That may sound cold, but it is a fact.

My faith teaches forgiveness, and it is commendable to be able to forgive someone of their crimes against others, but by forgiving them hardly gives them a "get out of jail free" card - there are still consequences that must be faced.

The only other fitting punishment would be to program Mr. Van's mind to live and relive fully aware of the personal human destruction of each and every person to whom he has supplied drugs to.

The only people in this case for whom I have sympathy are his victims, his mother and brother.
Posted by ema3, Saturday, 26 November 2005 1:45:52 AM
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I would not have any sympathy for Nguyen's brother either, Ema. He is a convicted criminal himself with conviction for heroin trafficking. He has also been implicated in a machete attack. Knowing how Vietnamese families work, it looks like heroin trafficking is a family affair.

I would say that Mr Nguyen and his brother coldly weighed the risks against the gains when Nguyen chose Singapore as his departure point to Australia. The consequences of being caught means that Singapore airport security is not as alert to drug trafficking as other notorious Asian airports, and people arriving from Singapore are not considered by Australian security to be likely drug traffickers.

When a "reformed" Vietnamese drug trafficker was interviewed on Sydney TV by a current affairs show, and asked why Cabrammatta was the drug capitol of Australia, he said. "Look, in Vietnamese culture, selling drugs is just like selling anything else. It is no big deal."

When asked about how he felt about the fact that heroin was killing 1000 Australians every year, he shrugged and said. "Most Vietnamese hate white people anyway, because of the war."

Australia has imported people as "refugees" into this country who have no respect for us, our culture or our laws. They have no gratitute to this country for giving them succour and their rate of criminal recidivism makes one suspect that foreign criminals see refugee programs as heaven sent opportunities to aquire rich new pastures to plunder. Only this week a Kuwaiti "refugee" was convicted of being the biggest welfare fraud in Centrelink history. Some of them despise Australians so much that they are quite happy to kill Australians, either through bombs or criminal behaviour, and these people obviously consider themselves at war with my society.

The world will be rid of Mr Nguyen next week and good riddance. He will be one less Vietnamese murdering Australians. Hanging a few dozen Lebanese criminals in Australia would do wonders to the present unacceptable behaviour of so many Lebs in this country
Posted by redneck, Saturday, 26 November 2005 3:36:02 AM
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If someone said I needed welfare, my reply is what the hell is that, it is something which some migrants get a PhD when they arrive, and a classic statement from Serbia, with the latest dope, He has to get a Job to stay here, we do not hand out money for nothing. OW. They are right.
Spare a thought for the Police men and women and our ambulance attendance when they arrive at a scene of another overdose death, especially when they lean forward and see such a young soul stolen from the living. The Politics and Bureaucrats of Liberalism at work the criminals of our society amongst the Gang land and ethnic Crime grouping, an undeniable link.
Hanging is to messy, lethal injection will suffice: Retrospective laws apply. Singapore’s society is a clean and a lot safer than Australia, need not investigate the reason for that. It is obvious.
Rednecks summary is very accurate and clear.
Posted by All-, Saturday, 26 November 2005 6:38:13 AM
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