By Raj Paneken

No, you don’t know! I am going to tell you, because there in Singapore there is an effective deterrent called Death Penalty. It is like having a doberman in your yard to keep thieves at bay and allow you to sleep soundly. But the day you remove that deterrent, be prepared to receive the visit of thieves.

Drug-traffickers are very knowledgeable about the laws existing in certain countries concerning drugs. They know where to go with their stuffs. Why do they never venture into Singapore or any Arab country? Because the laws against drug-trafficking in these countries are too rigorous. If they are caught with drug, they will be hanged, and no one will be able to save their skins. On the other hand they will try their luck in Mauritius because they know that the laws against drug-trafficking are not rigorous, and there is only term of imprisonment if ever they are caught. They also know about the jail life, how the country is equipped with «five stars» prisons where prisoners are given a royal treatment. So taking all these into account, it is certainly worth an attempt. This is how our country has become an easy market and a hub for drug-trafficking in that corner of the world.

In Singapore the government has provided an effective security belt for its population against the scourge of drugs with a deterrent called «Death Penalty. » Anyone who is caught with 15 grams of hard drug in his possession is hanged in Singapore, irrespective who he is, be it a carrier or the trafficker itself. Consequently Singapore is a drug-free society.

When an Australian was caught at Changi Airport with 400 grams of heroin in his luggage, what the Australian government had not done to save the life of its citizen, like soliciting the Singaporean government to commute his death sentence into life imprisonment, just to spare him from the gallows. The government of Singapore adamantly turned down all pleas for clemency by applying his inflexible maxim― no precedent! The man was hanged. You have infringed the law, so you bear the consequences. There is no by-pass!

Metadon Therapy

In Singapore there is no treatment for drug-takers par rapport to our country where government spends millions of tax-payers’ money on methadon therapy to rehabilitate drug addicts. In Singapore there is no drug rehabilitation since the problem of drug is dealt with at root level. When there is no drug circulating in your society, your citizens are screened, and the government does not have to spend on drug rehabilitation. This is the underlying reason why Singapore will never do away with Death Penalty because it is an effective weapon in the fight against drug-trafficking.

Singapore is probably the only country which backs the education of its society with laws. While it tells its citizens and foreigners not litter, keep the country clean or no drug-taking, which is education. But along side with it, it has set up laws to support that education. If you litter, the law will be applied and you will be fined or imprisoned. If you are caught with drug, there is death penalty in store.

Education in itself is highly inadequate if it is not shored up with a deterrent. Don’t just say «Don’t. » The words have to be translated into action. In Singapore the government has come up with a formula― Education plus law is equal to a livable society. A model to copy!

Here the Commission of Inquiry on drugs, my foot! Only stiff laws partnered with Death Penalty can subdue the scourge of drugs. The Commission of Inquiry on drugs will be « un coup d’épée dans l’eau» «Ladrog pou kontigne fer ravaz dan pei, marke garde! »

«Le modèle singapourien contre la drogue is the best!»