回应内政部声明

RESPONSE TO MHA'S PRESS RELEASE
Teo Soh Lung

I refer to the Ministry of Home Affairs' press release of Friday, 17 May 24. Frankly, I was surprised that Minister Shanmugam had taken the trouble to respond to my facebook post.

I reject the allegation that I had thought “so poorly of former drug abusers”. I don't know how the minister arrived at that conclusion. I have stood up in the past for the weak and was one of the founders of the Criminal Legal Scheme of the Law Society which has today been renamed and reconstituted. Furthermore, some decades ago, I stood up to the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew when he undermined the Law Society.

I am aware that former offenders of drugs or other crimes are sensitive and do not relish publicity or reminders of their past. I was therefore concerned that television coverage of the 120 former drug addicts and their families may not be good for them. I therefore stated my reservation. Since the minister has clarified that all of them were aware that there would be media coverage, I accept that my concern was unnecessary.

While it is true that I do not think the minister can eradicate the drug problem in Singapore, I also do not think that this problem can be solved by leaders of any country. People resort to drugs for many reasons. To believe that the death penalty will solve Singapore's drug crimes is too simplistic.

The minister's approach towards drug offenders has not differed from his predecessors. Our laws have always been harsh towards drug mules while the big-time drug dealers are never caught. And so it is hard for me to accept that the death penalty works. If it did, no one should be caught for drug trafficking today as the death penalty has been our law for nearly 50 years now.

Minister Shanmugam singled out several citizens in his ministerial statement. I am glad that there are still individuals in Singapore who have the nerve to stand up for the powerless. His criticisms of last-minute applications of death row prisoners, several of whom I understand did not have legal representation, is unreasonable. Every life is precious. If a last-minute application can save a life and here I recall the case of Yong Vui Kong who is alive today because of last-minute applications, then I have to disagree that these applications are all unmeritorious and a waste of judges' time.

Minister Shanmugam invites me and others to take legal action against him. This is the problem with many PAP ministers. They cannot engage in debates.