arf2000,

Other than Unions some how taking over, I totally agree that the issues you’ve raised are far more important than what our media is concentrating on these days. Nguyen is a drop in the ocean compared to bigger picture as a whole. And it disappoints me that our dopey media feeds people what they think they want; totally ignoring the more fundamental issues.

The point of my posts on this topic are merely to challenge the one-sided beliefs of the “Let’s support the death penalty no matter what the cost” members of this forum.

As for your point about the Singaporean government and drug barons – That’s highly debatable. If that they have no connections with drug barons, then why is it that out of the hundreds of drug offenders that have been executed, not one of them was a drug baron? The Singaporean government has also had close dealings, involving millions of dollars with one of the most notorious of drug lords in Burma.

Singapore maintains a strong stance against drugs yet it invests billions of dollars in Burma each year – a country where half of it’s GDP comes from heroin. Sounds a bit suspicious to me.

If they’re going to execute people, then that’s their business – as right or wrong as it may be. But at the same time, if they’re going to go the extent of penalising someone with a punishment so irreversible like putting them death; for a stance they supposedly believe in so strongly, then they need some consistency in their behaviour or they discredit their whole system and make themselves look like hypocritical savages.

For how long now, have we in society allowed academics and social engineers to fiddle with our laws and standards ?

They all claimed to be wiser then us all, and their solutions were supposed to be the best.
Yet, how many would walk the streets of their cities in Australia in the dead of night and feel safe ?
A direct result of these social engineering practiced by such people.
Worse, are they EVER held accountable for their stuff ups ? Not likely.
Now here it goes again, some lofty adcademic in his ivory tower proclaiming he knows what's best for us all, and Singapore as well.
Too bad he doesn't direct similar invective at the U.S. who would have to be at the top of the class, for committing murder against it's own citizenry and the citizens of the World with impunity.
I wonder why that is, could it be because he considers Singapore a soft touch ? Or fair game ?

I would suggest that should the death penalty be done away with and replaced with a lifetime in gaol, a certain proportion of the learned Proffesor's salary should be contributed for the sustenance of said prisoner.
In fact all supporters of such, should all be called upon, to place their money, where their mouths are, and when that happens, for goodness sake, don't stand in the doorway, you may be trampled in the stampede.

One thing has long amused me about the issue of Singapore Laws & Punishment and our hypocritical attitude toward. When crime ( such as thefts, break and enters, loutish behaviours, etc)in our cities (particularly juvenile crime) gets a big run in the media, there is much discussion about Australian law being too soft, and we should use the birch like in Singapore. When Australians are caught trafficking drugs through Singapore, their laws are too barbaric. I do oppose the death penalty but until Singapore changes this law, (I suspect it will start snowing there first), it is THE LAW. I apologise for being a prudey little square, but this guy was risking his life big time, and will now pay the price. My prayers do go to his family and friends who are affected by his actions.

Some good and spurious comments.

If anyone wants to do something positive to help Nguyen Tuong Van - you might consider dumping OPTUS.

http://dimc.axxs.org/index.php?action=default&featureview=80

I'm working on an article - I'll post it later.

This issue will not go away whatever happens to Nguyen.

Capital punishment is wrong, although it's bizarre that leftists who usually cite moral relativism as the holy grail, that all cultures are equal - one is neither better nor worse than another, are the ones so outraged by this barbaric Singaporian method of execution.

Everything seems to be said, although I'd add that we need to start looking into what it is within the Asian cultures that has no problem with heroin. Heroin is distributed in Australia, the AFP says, largely by Asian crime syndicates.

I've often wondered why the heroin capital of our nation is an are where Asian migrants settled in the 1970's & 80's. I wonder how the man who lives in the house opposite the park where all the youth sell heroin doesn't call the police. I just can't imagine it happening in an Aussie area, the parents would come out with baseball bats to stop the dealers.

Then there is the rumour of the junkies from Melbourne who say that when they used to score at Nguyen's house (who hangs tommorow) it was often the mother who did the deal at the door. If true, and I've read that this is common at Cabramatta too, she isn't human.

Still, nobody can deny that there are cultural elements to this problem, which is likely why it's the Asian nations with the severe punishments for such crimes.

I also believe that none of this would be happening if Nguyen was a white-anglo saxon. The multiculti lobby who want to erect monuments for this hero & have a minutes silence (they are really getting out of hand aren't they?) will stop at nothing to help their ethnic pets.

However, could you imagine the reverse? A group of Aussie refugees set are welcomed to Vietnam and within 20years have set themselves up as a major crime capital, sex capital, fraud capital & DRUG capital. A tiny community among millions and this is the result! We'd have Vietnamese regularly lynching Aussies for selling drugs to their kids, a NEW FORM OF COLONIALISM the politicians would say, and shops would be burnt to the ground. We'd be told to go home.

Think of how tolerant Australians are considering this has never happened, after all the violence, drugs they have brought with them. We are following Christ's example a little too close I think!