Trying hard to forestall the rot

In the weeks leading up to the execution of Nguyen Tuong Van, the Straits Times carried many news reports about the case. That was to be expected since there was plenty of news to report. Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downing made a number of appeals to the Singapore government and Singapore ministers replied. Other Australians, including two former prime ministers, issued statements against the impending execution. Rallies were held in Melbourne and Sydney.

Generally, in Straits Times' coverage, there was a playing up of the Singapore government's rebuttals and a highlighting of Howard's more moderate position compared to the sharper demands of the Australian media and the campaigners.

Most notably, there was a near-complete shut-out of Singapore campaigners from the newspaper. Although the anti-death penalty forum organised by Singapore's Think Centre on 7 November was covered by the Australian and foreign media (including Reuters and AFP), it was completely ignored by the Straits Times.

The letters page also suggested bias in selection. There were far more letters in favour of carrying out the execution than against. Some of them were written by Australians. As I said to Radio New Zealand when I was interviewed for their Nine-to-noon program on 2 December 2005, it seemed very strange that while the Straits Times found letters from pro-hanging Australians to print, they couldn't find a single anti-hanging letter to print. This was even as lots of Australians were vociferously voicing their opinions down under. Did none of them write to the Straits Times, unlike their compatriots who favoured the death penalty? Or did the Straits Times trash all such letters?

Was the debate entirely in Australia? Were Singaporeans generally unanimous that capital punishment was justifiable? From the Straits Times' coverage, it would seem that Singaporeans either had no view to offer or were behind our government. But if one looked at the blogosphere, you'd see that many Singaporeans were, like Australians, either uncomfortable or downright against the death penalty.

How many, of course, is impossible to say. Singaporeans know full well that any attempt at taking an opinion poll on the matter would be seriously frowned on by the government. Even if someone wasn't afraid to pay for one, I doubt if any reputable polling organisation would want to take up the job, for fear of retribution from the government. Why, one might conceivably be charged under the Sedition Act for

(a) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the Government; 

(b) to excite the citizens of Singapore or the residents in Singapore to attempt to procure in Singapore, the alteration, otherwise than by lawful means, of any matter as by law established; 

(c) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the administration of justice in Singapore; 

(d) to raise discontent or disaffection amongst the citizens of Singapore or the residents in Singapore;

... these being the exact (and very broad) words of the Sedition Act.

* * * * *

 
In science and medicine, sometimes there is no way to make a direct observation or detection of something. We can only infer the existence or nature of something from the reaction of other things around it.

Astronomers can infer whether a distant planet has moons from the way the planet itself wobbles, even when the moon may be too small to be seen. The gravitational play between the two bodies causes even the bigger planet to wobble as it rotates.

Doctors can infer that a patient has been infected by a certain virus when they see that he has antibodies to it, even when the virus itself can't be detected. The body would not have produced those antibodies, which are specific to the virus, unless the patient had been exposed to that particular infecting agent.

In the same vein, can we infer what public opinion in Singapore is on the matter of the death penalty, from the government's reaction?

Not before the hanging, for as I said, there was actual news happening to report.

But once the execution had been carried out, the government and its compliant newspaper, the Straits Times, could very well have lowered the guillotine on the subject. After all, there'd hardly be anything else happening that might be worth reporting.

I monitored the Straits Times, from 3 December 2005 (the day after the hanging) to 13 December. Here are the list of stories and letters it published. In a few cases, I will either give you the gist of the article, or quote a few paragraphs from it, but most of the time, you can tell from the headline.

(The numbering is just to make it easier for cross-referencing here)

 
Saturday, 3 Dec 2005

News pages:

03.01 Drug gamble ends with 6 a.m. hanging

A straightforward half-page news story, recapping the saga, albeit with somewhat slanted language.

"The past few weeks melded into a supercharged drama of emotion, ethics and politics -- of one country's decision to punish an offender for a crime committed on its sovereign soil, and another's desire to protect its citizen from what it deems as vengeful bias"

This news article reported the vigil outside Changi prison at dawn, another vigil in St Ignatius Church in Melbourne and church bells tolling in Canberra.

03.02 Lesson from Nguyen case don't do drugs

This included a photo of people placing flowers before Nguyen's photo in central Sydney.

03.03 Australians on death row overseas

About the "Bali nine", who could face the death penalty if convicted of heroin trafficking in Indonesia. Also about two more Australians who have been convicted for trafficking heroin in Vietnam and were likely to face the firing squad if their appeals didn't succeed.

03.04 US carries out its 1,000th execution

Commentary pages:

03.05 Real villains in Nguyen case
By Warren Fernandez, Foreign Editor of the Straits Times

"[T]hose who are quick to hit out at Singaporens, and their backers, for the supposedly 'barbaric', 'inhumane', and 'callous' behaviour, would be better off directing their anger at the real villains in this saga - - the drug traffickers and barons...."

Then he reported on the findings from Roy Morgan International, a polling agency,

".... national poll of 654 Australian conducted on Wednesday found that 47 per cent thought Nguyen should face the death penalty against 46 per cent who disagreed. The rest were undecided.

"Significantly, the poll found that only 27 per cent of Australians agreed that those convicted of murder should be given the death penalty, a 26 percentage point drop from a decade ago."

More...

"Yet, despite this strong swing against the death penalty, nearly six in 10 - - 57 percent - - said that Australian convicted abroad for capital offences should face the death penalty. Only 36 percent thought otherwise.

"Perhaps it came as a shock to find that the two countries, which seemed to share so many common interests and similarities in their regional outlook, might yet be so different in their attitudes towards something as emotive as capital punishment.

"Herein lies a critical point: It is misguided for Australians to assume because Singapore is more 'developed' than its neighbours, it should increasingly become 'more like us.'

"That is unfortunate conceit, which fails to recognise the deep-seated differences in the two countries' histories, cultures and social make-ups."

03.06 Death penalty dilemmas
By John Gee -– "a freelancer based in Singapore."

"I find it hard to reach a firm opinion on the issue, and I suspect that there are quite a few people who feel torn over it.

"I certainly sympathise more with the critics of the death penalty than with those who endorse it, but I recognise that there are specific cases, such as those of men who abuse and then murder children, or people who brutally and with premeditation slay others in order to steal from them, to which my instinctive reaction is that the perpetrators ought to be executed."

More...

"It is hard to respond to the 'sanctity of life' argument: one either believes in it or one does not."

More...

"What might be said with greater certainty is that the biggest deterrent to most forms of crime appears to be the fear of being caught, even if it does not result in a very heavy sentence."

More...

"Two arguments against the death penalty appear harder to refute.

"One is that those on death row are disproportionately from poorer parts of society and frequently from disadvantaged minorities.

"It is easy to argue that the same laws apply to all, but when circumstances that are usually beyond an individual's control have conspired to make an individual more prone to commit a crime of violence or to trade in drugs, there is clearly an element of injustice, or at least, unequal justice, involved."

More...

"The second argument should also trouble even the most convinced believer in the efficacy of the death penalty: what if an innocent person is convicted and executed by mistake?

"To me, this seems like the ultimate unanswerable argument on this issue. I still feel unable to say that I am against the death penalty in all circumstances -- but maybe I come quite close to that."

 
Sunday, 4 December 2005

News pages:

04.01 Capital punishment won't be poll issue

Two opposition politicians (in Singapore) do not think it's worthwhile making this an issue in the coming general election.

04.02 Nguyen's brother also a convicted trafficker

04.03 Aussie PM rejects death penalty drive

"Australian Prime Minister John Howard backed away from initiating a campaign to try to end the death penalty in Asia ..."

" 'If anyone imagines a diplomatic offensive by Australia is going to change the attitude of China, or the attitude of Singapore or Malaysia or other countries in the region to capital punishment, then I think they are mistaken,' he said..."

04.04 Letters from the grave

Nguyen's last letters to family and friends

04.05 Nguyen's message: shun drugs

04.06 Condemn death penalty in US

Nguyen's lawyer, Julian McMahon, said Australian leaders will have to speak out against the death penalty in the US if they want to be taken seriously in their campaign against capital punishment

04.07 Hypocritical? No, says Howard

04.08 Bush 'strongly supports' the death penalty 

Monday 5 December 2005

News pages:

05.01 Howard won't campaign against death penalty

"Australian Prime Minister John Howard yesterday ruled out launching an international campaign to abolish the death penalty, saying he did not believe it would succeed."

[This is repetitious. A nearly identical story had appeared the day before (Sunday), under the headline "Aussie PM rejects death penalty drive". See 04.03 above.]

05.02 Singapore envoy responds again to Chee's allegation

Opposition politician Chee Soon Juan raised the question of the Singapore government having once been in bed with drug kingpins from Burma. The High Commissioner in Canberra had denied this earlier. But Chee responded and so the envoy had to respond again. Our government insists on having the last word on anything.

 
Tuesday, 6 December 2005

Straits Times Forum, online letters:

06.01 Those who defy the law must be prepared to face the consequences
By Ananda Pereira, a Singaporean temporarily in Canberra

06.02 Drug users deserve equal punishment
By Mark Lee Marn Fatt, Singapore. 

He argued for harsher, equal treatment of drug users, though he didn't say they should be hanged too.

 
Wednesday, 7 December 2005

Straits Times Forum, print edition:

07.01 Large majority of Australians hold no resentment
By Stephen Dowse, New South Wales, Australia

07.02 He, for one, will be boycotting Republic
By Mark Hilder, New South Wales, Australia

07.03a and 07.03b Thanks for doing Australia's dirty work

Under this headline were two letters, one by
Jon Hinwood, Victoria, and another by 
Ron Goodden from Georgia, USA.

Straits Times Forum, online letters:

07.04 Those who defy the law must be prepared to face the consequences
By Ananda Pereira, a Singaporean temporarily in Canberra.

Yes, this letter had been published (online) the day before -- Tuesday -- then shown among Wednesday's list of letters. See 06.01.

07.05 Nguyen's saga highlights dangers posed by drugs
By Ramli Puteh, Singapore

07.06 Let truth about Nguyen's criminal activities emerge
By Graham Egan, Australia (state not given)

07.07 S'pore has right to apply its laws to those guilty of breaking them
By John Mellors, Australia (state not given)

07.08 Thank you, Singapore, for making our streets safer
By Brett Holland, Australia (state not given)

07.09 Drug menace could be curbed if more countries followed S'pore's example
By Brent Piorier, New Mexico, USA

07.10 More countries should carry death penalty for drug trafficking
By Marilyn S Taylor (Mrs), Louisiana, USA

07.11 No need to mourn Nguyen's death
By Lawrence Ma, Sydney, Australia

07.12 Death penalty runs contrary to basic principles of sentencing
By Luther Weate, Sydney, Australia

07.13 Hanging barbaric? It's the crime that's barbaric
By Peter York, Sydney, Australia

 
Thursday, 8 December 2005,

Nil

 
Friday, 9 December 2005

Straits Times Forum, online letters:

09.01 Kudos to Howard for handling of Nguyen case
By Tang Li, Singapore. 

Despite the headline given by the editors, which did reflect what Tang Li wrote, a closer examination of the letter also revealed that he said, "I understand the implications of the death penalty. Intellectually, I am against it and would like to think my stand will not change regardless of who is about to be hanged."

09.02 No basis for West to lecture S'pore on Nguyen case
By Dr Mark Speece, Alaska, USA

 
Saturday, 10 December 2005

Nil

 
Sunday, 11 December 2005

News pages:

11.01 Soft drug policy, hardcore junkies

"Australia has one of the highest rates of drug abuse in the world - - and its soft sentencing under a 'harm minimisation' programme is making the problem worse."

11.02 Sydney: A govt-funded centre to 'shoot-up'

11.03 Melbourne: Needles to go at clinic

11.04 Aussie backs drug penalties in letter to PM

"A retired Australian navy man has written to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to express his support for Singapore's death penalty for drug traffickers.

" Mr Henry Smith, 79 and living in Queensland, wrote the letter on Dec 3, the day after Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, was hanged in Singapore amid loud protests from his countrymen."

More....

"Mr Smith's letter, which the Prime Minister's Office released yesterday with Mr Lee's reply, is among thousands of letters and e-mail messages that Mr Lee had received in recent weeks on Nguyen's death sentence."

More...

"He said many Australians supported the death penalty for serious crimes but feared speaking out because of the country's culture of political correctness and its laws against discrimination and racism.

"He urged Mr Lee not to let Singapore go the way of Western countries which 'protect the guilty and ignore the victims of crimes', including drug addicts, their parents and friends."

 
Monday, 12 December 2005

Nil

 
Tuesday, 13 December 2005

News pages:

13.01 More Aussies back Nguyen's execution

"A new poll has shown that more Australians are now in favour of the death penalty against drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van, a finding that could intensify the debate on capital punishment here.

"Nguyen was hanged in Singapore on Dec 2.

"The number of Australians who support the recent execution of the Melbourne man had gone up to 52 per cent, according to polling firm Roy Morgan Research.

"This was five percentage points higher than the support level in a Nov 30 poll, Roy Morgan said in a press release.

"Forty-four per cent of those polled opposed his sentence, two percentage points down from the previous poll.

"The telephone poll was carried out on the evenings of Dec 7 and 8, covering 658 respondents across the country aged 14 and above."

More....

"Interestingly, the new poll also showed an ambivalence in attitude towards capital punishment for murder.

"Only a quarter of the respondents were in favour of the death penalty when asked if it should apply to murder.

"But 77 per cent also agreed that Indonesian terrorist Amrozi - who has been sentenced to death for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians - should be executed."

More....

"The new poll by Roy Morgan underscored what some observers argued was a double standard in Australia's stance on capital punishment on the one hand, pleading for clemency for Australians sentenced to death; on the other, advocating it for people who have harmed Australians directly."

* * * * *

 
What we see here is a barrage of news articles and letters, all intended to reinforce the idea that Singapore was right to hang the man and others like him, and that plenty of Australians agree with our government.

It was most curious how items 4.03 and 5.01 rehashed the same news (John Howard refusing to campaign for abolition in other countries), and how Ananda Pereira's letter was published twice. 

Most readers might have missed it, but I also noted how letters 07.06, 07.07 and 07.08 did not mention which state in Australia the writers were from. Straits Times' explicitly stated policy is that letter writers must include their addresses, otherwise the newspaper will not publish their submissions. Other letters from Australia and the USA indicated which state or city the writers were from, but not these three. This seems to suggest that Graham Egan, John Mellors and Brett Holland failed to provide their addresses, yet the Straits Times still published what they wrote.

Was the newspaper scraping the bottom of the barrel for pro-Singapore letters?

If so, why?

Taking the 10 days' selection of news stories and published letters as a whole, there's more than a whiff of desperation.

Who is the audience for the Straits Times? Not Australians, but Singaporeans. The government could have lowered the guillotine on the subject a day or two after the execution, but didn't. Why didn't they?

Why did the Straits Times go on and on telling Singaporeans that hanging drug traffickers is the right thing to do and that the world approves? And oh, by the way, Australia is going to hell with its drug problem.

This strongly suggests that the government sensed that Singaporeans themselves needed convincing. John Gee's commentary (03.06) provided a good window into public opinion here.

Finally, did you notice how gleefully the Straits Times reported on Australian opinion polls, but didn't commission a poll of Singaporeans themselves?

Is there a government leader here muttering to himself, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark?"

© Yawning Bread 

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