Flogging in Singapore

Singapore’s inhumane use of flogging as a punishment was a revelation to many. Recent news coverage shows that, in addition to its barbaric sentencing practices, it is not a free country--its press is controlled and its people do not have free speech. Its award-winning movies are censored and cannot be shown in their country. That is not a place Americans will want to visit or in which American companies should do business.

Like it or not, this matter has made a martyr and a folk hero out of Michael Fay. The Draconian punishment does not fit the crime, if any crime was even committed.

Singapore must move into the 20th Century and into the civilized world. Human rights do include humane treatment. Caning should be against international law as cruel and unusual punishment and labeled as the torture it is. Pressure from around the world needs to be brought on Singapore for its crime of flogging.

M. A. DUNN

Burbank

* A young boy of 18 got a mere four lashes in Singapore, but because his family raised a big noise and the media jumped on the bandwagon, he will probably become a millionaire. His story will no doubt become a TV movie and he will probably do the talk-show circuit.

Will the 35-year-old American woman who got 80 lashes in Tehran in public (May 6) also become a millionaire or just be forgotten?

HAROLD E. WELLS

North Hills

* So Michael Fay was caned four times instead of six. My, how benevolent! Those of us who believed this punishment is barbarous and archaic are not appeased.

JULIANN JAMIESON McGARRY

Los Angeles

* I was caned twice while attending a British school in Tientsin, China, from 1924 through 1927.

On each occasion I received three healthy whacks from the headmaster, an excellent golfer, who wielded the rattan cane with a swing that only a golfer knew how to make effective. The physical effects of the cane lasted for only a few days, even though I carried the red welts on my bottom for several weeks.

Do I blame the system that allows caning? I do not. Rules are rules and they are not to be broken. If they are, the consequences should be borne by the culprit. I did not suffer any ill effects due to the caning and, in fact, throughout my life I’ve thought twice before breaking any rules.

BEN LEVACO

Van Nuys

* It took a young person of 16 years to inform Times readers of the true nature of government in Singapore (letter, April 26) and its robotized citizens, who aren’t even allowed to think. Give these complainers a one-way ticket to the primitive and vile city of Singapore or advise them to stay out of dark parking lots. They do not even realize how very privileged they are to be able to express themselves in print.

MARILYN B. ALLEN

Yucaipa

* The United States is too preoccupied with itself. Michael Fay got what he deserved. Why do some Americans believe the United States can tell other countries how to run their system of justice? Americans are so quick to judge, yet we do not like to be told what to do. I cannot pity Michael Fay. How can I pity someone who can sell his story to television for millions of dollars? But I do pity Americans for thinking we are the most important people in the world.

JOSE L. CAMPO

Los Angeles

* Michael Fay’s parents were “outraged” at the caning of their son. I too am outraged. I am outraged at parents who do not teach their children there are consequences if they are caught.

I am outraged that President Clinton, who presides over one of the most crime-ridden countries in the Western World, would have the temerity to lecture Singapore on how to run its criminal justice system.

My last bit of outrage is for the apologists who argue that harsh punishment doesn’t deter crime. Really? Does anyone believe Michael Fay would even think of committing another caper in Singapore?

IRWIN W. FISK

Pasadena

* What will I do with my day today? First, I think I’ll write a letter to the dictator of Singapore praising him for outlawing freedom of the press, savagely punishing all expression against the government and torturing young people for prankish misdemeanors. Next, I’ll take a close look at the candidates for governor of California and try to pick the one who promises to strap the most captive people into chairs and gas them to death, as drunken mobs cheer for blood. Then I’ll see “Schindler’s List,” and wonder how those gosh awful Nazis could become so cruel, callous and inhuman.

MICHAEL MODES

Los Angeles