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spindles · 11-28-2005, 03:04 PM

I was listening to the radio this morning and the presenter asked people who haved lived in Singapore to call in to discuss this. There were a few key points that I will try to summarise
1. Singapore appears to be a very safe place to live - the draconian-ness of laws means that there is very little crime. Obviously, disincentive *does* work

2. One caller said it was a "fine" place - because there was a fine for everything.

3. One caller said that the level of policing actually led to a freedom, different from what westerners have. She said you could walk the streets any time of day or night, be-decked in jewels, and not be worried about being assaulted/mugged/attacked.

Obviously the "freedom" she was espousing it quite different from our freedom that we live in now (ironically, she was born in Singapore but chooses to live here. So much for freedom).

The crux of your argument is that the punishment does not fit the crime. The question is - does a higher penalty actually stop people doing things? When our government introduced double demerit/double fines for holidays periods, did you think "I better watch my speed - I can't afford that larger fine/more likely loss of licence"? If the answer is yes, then disincentive does work. Then you have to ask, would life in prisonment be better than dying? (Personally, the idea of either scares the willies out of me). In terms of drug traffickers - if half of those thinking about it decide NOT to do it because one person is executed, I call that progress. If he got imprisoned for life, would those same half have the same opinion...who knows?

We may be better off trying to catch the manufacturers/financers of all this, but that is perhaps easier said than done...

Obviously we have no death penalty here. Does that mean we should not deal with countries that do have one?

Who are we to tell the Singaporeans how to run their judicial system? If you don't like their laws, don't go there!

Finally - I must say I'm on the fence about the death penalty. As I get older I am more inclined to saying it should be used in some circumstances - but only for violent crimes. Again, I feel sorry that he is dying but if you (as a government) have set out a punishment, you have to be willing to execute that punishment.

11-28-2005, 03:04 PM	#12 (permalink)
spindles Mine is an evil laugh Location: Sydney, Australia	I was listening to the radio this morning and the presenter asked people who haved lived in Singapore to call in to discuss this. There were a few key points that I will try to summarise 1. Singapore appears to be a very safe place to live - the draconian-ness of laws means that there is very little crime. Obviously, disincentive does work 2. One caller said it was a "fine" place - because there was a fine for everything. 3. One caller said that the level of policing actually led to a freedom, different from what westerners have. She said you could walk the streets any time of day or night, be-decked in jewels, and not be worried about being assaulted/mugged/attacked. Obviously the "freedom" she was espousing it quite different from our freedom that we live in now (ironically, she was born in Singapore but chooses to live here. So much for freedom). The crux of your argument is that the punishment does not fit the crime. The question is - does a higher penalty actually stop people doing things? When our government introduced double demerit/double fines for holidays periods, did you think "I better watch my speed - I can't afford that larger fine/more likely loss of licence"? If the answer is yes, then disincentive does work. Then you have to ask, would life in prisonment be better than dying? (Personally, the idea of either scares the willies out of me). In terms of drug traffickers - if half of those thinking about it decide NOT to do it because one person is executed, I call that progress. If he got imprisoned for life, would those same half have the same opinion...who knows? We may be better off trying to catch the manufacturers/financers of all this, but that is perhaps easier said than done... Obviously we have no death penalty here. Does that mean we should not deal with countries that do have one? Who are we to tell the Singaporeans how to run their judicial system? If you don't like their laws, don't go there! Finally - I must say I'm on the fence about the death penalty. As I get older I am more inclined to saying it should be used in some circumstances - but only for violent crimes. Again, I feel sorry that he is dying but if you (as a government) have set out a punishment, you have to be willing to execute that punishment. __________________ who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?