Tag Archives: articles

#StopTheKilling: TJC resumes door-knocking

By Elijah Tay This afternoon, members and volunteers of the Transformative Justice Collective visited some residents and chatted with them about the death penalty. While a couple of them initially claimed that they supported the death penalty, when given the opportunity to think about and reflect on their personal views, within minutes, they signed theContinue reading “#StopTheKilling: TJC resumes door-knocking”

Do Singaporeans really support the Death Penalty? (Part 2)

Continuing our series that draws from Dr Mai Sato’s article, let’s unpack why it’s a lie that there is strong support for the death penalty. Minister K. Shanmugam has repeatedly claimed that an “overwhelming majority” of Singaporeans support the death penalty, citing a statistic that 66% of Singaporeans agree with the mandatory death sentence for drug trafficking. This statistic is DEEPLY misleading.

Debunking The Death Penalty: Dr Mai Sato challenges the state’s “evidence” (Part 1)

Academic and activist Dr Mai Sato scathingly debunks the “proof” the Singapore government likes to brandish to claim that the death penalty is an effective deterrent whenever Singaporeans or international experts criticise the death penalty. As she puts bluntly, “Whom and what purpose the death penalty serves in Singapore remains unanswered”.

Will I Get Caned If…

Caning as a punishment in Singapore is very normalised within our society. We are exposed to it as children in school. We see adults suffer it as the State imposes it as a form of corporal punishment. We can forget how cruel and barbaric this form of punishment truly is. It is an extremely punitive form of punishment and perpetuates the idea that physical violence in our society is acceptable, as it is used against individuals who have caused other kinds of harm.

Getting Caned by the Singaporean State

Judicial caning is a form of torture, a violent action that leaves grown men unconscious at times. The punishment is doled out only to some – men between 18 and 50 – and in some cases, is a mandatory sentence. The aftermaths of caning is brutal, leaving people both physically and mentally scarred for life.

What does it mean to do harm reduction work? An interview with Nik Carverhill

Nik Carverhill is a Canadian harm reduction worker and researcher. He works in supervised consumption sites, has done outreach and organising in homeless encampments, and conducts research on embedded harm reduction services in homeless shelters.

End the Death Penalty for Cannabis

So far in 2023, two men have already been unjustly executed in Singapore for cannabis. They are Tangaraju Suppiah (executed on 26 April 2023) and Faizal bin Shariff (executed on 17 May 2023). Last year, Fazali bin Mohamed was also executed for a cannabis conviction. And in 2016, Nigerian Chijioke Stephen Obioha was executed forContinue reading “End the Death Penalty for Cannabis”

Harm reduction is about saving lives, not enabling drug use

When we talk about moving away from punitive approaches in drug policy, one common response is that harm reduction and support for people who use drugs is enabling harmful behaviour. Misconceptions? Many people think about harm reduction in the context of drugs, and it’s also been portrayed as enabling drug use. But in reality, harmContinue reading “Harm reduction is about saving lives, not enabling drug use”