Punishment in Singapore.
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Save as: Punishment in Singapore
Synopsis: Michael Peter Fay, an American teenager who has arguably become Singapore's most
famous -- or notorious -- prison inmate. After pleading guilty to vandalism charges, the 18-yearold student was sentenced March 3 to four months in jail, a $2,200 fine -- and six strokes of the
cane. That Singapore flogs vandals was not news. But that the island republic would scourge an
American was. The story made headlines worldwide, especially after U.S. President Bill Clinton
asked the Singapore government to waive the caning, which he called "excessive."
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U.S. Student Tells of Pain Of His Caning In Singapore
Published: June 26, 1994
The 19-year-old American who was caned in Singapore for vandalism said today that the
bleeding it caused was "like a bloody nose."
The teen-ager, Michael P. Fay, said in an interview that the four strokes with a rattan cane on
May 5 had left three dark-brown scars on his right buttock and four lines each about half-an-inch
wide on his left buttock.
In his first description of the caning, Mr. Fay said that prison
officials told him he shouted, "I'm dying," when the first
stroke was delivered. He said he could not remember making
the cry.
He said a prison officer stood beside him and guided him
through the ordeal, saying: "O.K. Michael, three left. O.K.,
Michael, two left. O.K., one more; you're almost done."
The Government of Singapore has defended the punishment
as a traditional part of the country's legal system. The caning
strained Singapore's relations with the United States and has
been seen as largely responsible for the United States' voting
against holding the first summit meeting of the World Trade
Organization in Singapore next year.
After confessing to vandalism, Mr. Fay was sentenced to four months in jail and six strokes with
a half-inch-thick rattan cane on two counts of vandalism and possession of stolen road signs. The
sentence was later reduced to four strokes.
After his confession, Mr. Fay contended that he had been coerced by police officers into saying
he had spray-painting cars. The Government of
Singapore denied that.
Mr. Fay had lived with his mother and stepfather in
Singapore since 1992 and had attended the SingaporeAmerican School. After being freed from prison on
Tuesday, he returned to his father's home in this suburb
of Dayton. Description of Caning
He said he had first looked at the scars in a mirror only
two days ago. "I got a shiver down my back," he said,
"and I couldn't believe I might have them for the rest of
my life."
Mr. Fay said the caning, which he estimated took one
minute, left a "few streaks of blood" running down his
buttocks. But his description appeared less horrific than
accounts of caning in the past.
"The skin did rip open," he said. "There was some
blood. I mean let's not exaggerate, and let's not say a few drops or that the blood was gushing
out. It was in between the two. It's like a bloody nose."
Mr. Fay said the wounds hurt for about five days, after which they itched as they healed. "The
first couple of days it was very hard to sit," he said.
He said that he was able to walk immediately after the caning and that in the days after the
punishment he was able to do push-ups.
Questions:
What happened in this article?
What exactly is a Rattan Cane?
Do you feel the punishment fit the crime?
How is this punishment different from the United States?
Do you think the United States should have been involved? Explain
It wasn't long before Singapore patriarch Lee Kuan Yew weighed in. He reckoned the whole
affair revealed America's moral decay. "The U.S. government, the U.S. Senate and the U.S.
media took the opportunity to ridicule us, saying the sentence was too severe," he said in a
television interview. "[The U.S.] does not restrain or punish individuals, forgiving them for
whatever they have done. That's why the whole country is in chaos: drugs, violence,
unemployment and homelessness. The American society is the richest and most prosperous in
the world but it is hardly safe and peaceful."
Most Singaporeans accept their brand of rough justice.. Singapore has succeeded in keeping
crime low. Since 1988, government statistics show there has been a steady decline in the crime
rate from 223 per 10,000 residents to 175 per 10,000 last year. Authorities are quick to credit
their tough laws and harsh penalties for much of that.
Of course Singapore is not the only country to use corporal punishment. At least sixteen
countries, including Malaysia, Pakistan and Brunei, mandate caning or flogging as punishment
for criminal offenses. But it was the Singapore case that brought out the differences between the
legal philosophies that underpin many Asian countries and the U.S. Some have gone so far as to
describe the incongruousness as a clash of civilizations.
"If there is a single fundamental difference between the Western and Asian world view, it is the
dichotomy between individual freedom and collective welfare," said Singapore businessman and
former journalist Ho Kwon Ping in an address to lawyers on May 5, the day Fay was caned. "The
Western cliché that it would be better for a guilty person to go free than to convict an innocent
person is testimony to the importance of the individual. But an Asian perspective may well be
that it is better that an innocent person be convicted if the common welfare is protected than for a
guilty person to be free to inflict further harm on the community."
If Singapore has such a low crime rate, Should the United States consider using
canning as a punishment for crimes? Explain – use the ABC writing format.