7th Commentary - Capital Punishment
This commentary is on the article "96% of S'poreans back the death penalty" and other related articles, dated 12th February, 2006.
There has been much debate over the issue of capital punishment; whether it should be abolished or not. This issue was highlighted over the issue of the hanging of the Australian drug courier. Australia has abolished the capital punishment, and the Australian government had tried to stop the Singaporean government from hanging their citizen. However, as we all know, the sentence was not overturned, and the man was hanged.
People who reject capital punishment usually bring up two main points of contention against the death penalty - life should not be used as a tool of punishment, and that innocents could get killed by accident.
About the first point. Life, as we know, is precious, and should not be wasted. To end someone's life as a form of punishment would seem to be very harsh. However, as the death penalty is only mandatory for the most horrible of crimes, and the maximum sentence for several other severe crimes, it would mean that the criminal who is being sentenced to death would have committed a crime that was very serious.
The existence of the death penalty would thus be a deterrent to others; people would now think twice before committing such crimes again. This is the view shared by many Singaporeans, as shown in the article.
the death penalty could also be a form of solace for the families of the victims of crimes such as murder, as the ending of the murderer's life may help to lessen the grief over the death of the victim.
On the second main point raised, I believe that in our local context, the police force and other related agencies are competent enough to do a thorough investigation of the cases before coming to a conclusion. The courts of Singapore are also very efficient and precise in their judgment. This is even more true when it comes to cases involving capital punishment - the courts know that their decision could be a difference between life and death for the person. I believe that they would also have thought of the risk of mistakes. Furthermore, Singapore is known to have very little corruption - this means that it is quite unlikely that the jury or other involved parties would accept bribes. Thus the risk of killing an innocent by the death penalty is greatly reduced , at least for Singapore. However, we must still admit that the possibility, although very remote, is still there.
My opinion on this issue is that the death penalty should remain, but there should be even more additional precautions to reduce the already-tiny possibility of killing an innocent by mistake. However, I do feel that the death penalty should be used as little as possible, as this is one punishment that is utterly irreversible.
Other than the debate over the existence of the death penalty, the types of crimes punishable by death is another area of discussion. Currently, crimes like murder and the smuggling of large quantities of drugs are punishable by death. Now, many people want to add new crimes to the list, most probably in light of recent situations. The planning and the carrying out of terrorist attacks are probably the two most prominent ones. These crimes are indeed horrible, as they involve the possibility of the mass killing of a large number of innocent people. In my opinion, these crimes are just like murder, just amplified by many times, and thus should rightly have a mandatory death sentence.
However, it must be noted that the death penalty may also not be a useful deterrent against terrorists, as some of them would want to die t become matyrs. In this case, a life sentence may be more appropriate.
In my opinion, the death penalty should be implemented as the maximum sentence for terrorists, thus allowing the possibility of other actions.
On the point of abolishing the death penalty, it is my opinion that it should not be abolished, unless over 60% of Singaporeans wish it to be so. We do not need to follow the example of others in this; As a sovereign state, Singapore should chose what is felt to be right for the people, not comply to everything others say. Of course, we must never totally ignore external factors either.
In conclusion, I would support the death penalty as well, but I also want to see it used justifiably, and not for any minor issue.
There has been much debate over the issue of capital punishment; whether it should be abolished or not. This issue was highlighted over the issue of the hanging of the Australian drug courier. Australia has abolished the capital punishment, and the Australian government had tried to stop the Singaporean government from hanging their citizen. However, as we all know, the sentence was not overturned, and the man was hanged.
People who reject capital punishment usually bring up two main points of contention against the death penalty - life should not be used as a tool of punishment, and that innocents could get killed by accident.
About the first point. Life, as we know, is precious, and should not be wasted. To end someone's life as a form of punishment would seem to be very harsh. However, as the death penalty is only mandatory for the most horrible of crimes, and the maximum sentence for several other severe crimes, it would mean that the criminal who is being sentenced to death would have committed a crime that was very serious.
The existence of the death penalty would thus be a deterrent to others; people would now think twice before committing such crimes again. This is the view shared by many Singaporeans, as shown in the article.
the death penalty could also be a form of solace for the families of the victims of crimes such as murder, as the ending of the murderer's life may help to lessen the grief over the death of the victim.
On the second main point raised, I believe that in our local context, the police force and other related agencies are competent enough to do a thorough investigation of the cases before coming to a conclusion. The courts of Singapore are also very efficient and precise in their judgment. This is even more true when it comes to cases involving capital punishment - the courts know that their decision could be a difference between life and death for the person. I believe that they would also have thought of the risk of mistakes. Furthermore, Singapore is known to have very little corruption - this means that it is quite unlikely that the jury or other involved parties would accept bribes. Thus the risk of killing an innocent by the death penalty is greatly reduced , at least for Singapore. However, we must still admit that the possibility, although very remote, is still there.
My opinion on this issue is that the death penalty should remain, but there should be even more additional precautions to reduce the already-tiny possibility of killing an innocent by mistake. However, I do feel that the death penalty should be used as little as possible, as this is one punishment that is utterly irreversible.
Other than the debate over the existence of the death penalty, the types of crimes punishable by death is another area of discussion. Currently, crimes like murder and the smuggling of large quantities of drugs are punishable by death. Now, many people want to add new crimes to the list, most probably in light of recent situations. The planning and the carrying out of terrorist attacks are probably the two most prominent ones. These crimes are indeed horrible, as they involve the possibility of the mass killing of a large number of innocent people. In my opinion, these crimes are just like murder, just amplified by many times, and thus should rightly have a mandatory death sentence.
However, it must be noted that the death penalty may also not be a useful deterrent against terrorists, as some of them would want to die t become matyrs. In this case, a life sentence may be more appropriate.
In my opinion, the death penalty should be implemented as the maximum sentence for terrorists, thus allowing the possibility of other actions.
On the point of abolishing the death penalty, it is my opinion that it should not be abolished, unless over 60% of Singaporeans wish it to be so. We do not need to follow the example of others in this; As a sovereign state, Singapore should chose what is felt to be right for the people, not comply to everything others say. Of course, we must never totally ignore external factors either.
In conclusion, I would support the death penalty as well, but I also want to see it used justifiably, and not for any minor issue.
posted by Raylen at 8:08 PM
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