The drug laws of South East Asia are legendarily tough and restrictive and Singapore is one of the places legendary for its harsh reaction to drug offences. The world was shocked last year when Singapore executed two men for drug offences over a year after it had announced that it would stop doing so. In 2012 the Asian city-state adopted amendments that rid Singaporean law of the mandatory death sentence for certain drug-related and violent criminal offences. The middle aged men Tang Hai Liang and Foong Chee Peng were hanged in July of last year, the former for smuggling just over 3 ounces of heroin and the latter for dealing a smaller quantity of the drug. The Singaporean Narcotics Bureau were stony-faced and cold blooded about the whole ordeal, simply stating that "Both of them understood the consequences of their respective decisions". While human rights groups were outraged the Singaporean government maintained that the death penalty was an important tool for deterring future crimes.
David O'Donoghue is a student and freelance writer from Co. Kerry, Ireland. His writing has appeared in the Irish Independent, Film Ireland, Ultraculture.com, Listverse and he is the former Political Editor for Campus.ie. He also writes short fiction and poetry which can be found at his blog/spellbook davidjodonoghue.tumblr.com
