HUMAN RIGHTS is bulls**t in the war against drugs.

[AhJason]

My niece texted me this article because she was preparing for secondary school project and asked for my inputs. My initial reply to her:" K**! School reopen less than a month and you kanna project liao meh? Sai school! "

 

I think it must be some anti-drug campaign but now with this human rights angle, dunno how to explain it to her. She think that angmohs are very kaypoh. LOL (which I agree) .

 

http://carrot-uncensored.blogspot.sg/2012/05/human-rights-is-bulls**t-in-war-against.html

 

Once again, some foreign organisation has decided to stick its nose into Singapore's affairs and critique our "draconian" laws and capital punishment for drug trafficking.

The death sentence for all convicted drug traffickers was set in place for a reason. We cannot afford to let drug problems cripple families and the nation's well-being, especially when Singapore has no natural resources and is reliant on its human resources.

Singaporeans are educated on the hazards of drug abuse right from a young age through teachers and parents, as well as public campaigns. For those who take a wrong step and fall into substance abuse, there are rehab houses that help them out of the pits and put them back on track in life.

To reinforce these efforts, steps must also be taken to prevent, or at least minimise, the inflow of drugs. What use is there if children were taught not to abuse drugs but ecstasy, heroin, cocaine and all the devils were easily available off street corners?

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's World Drug Report 2011, the annual prevalence of opiates (defined as a drug containing or derived from opium) use as a percentage of the population aged 15-64 was 0.01. Malaysia and Indonesia, which also impose the death penalty on convicted drug traffickers, have a prevalence of use of 0.94% and 0.16% respectively.

That prevalence of use in the US was 5.9% – the highest of all countries surveyed. Costa Rica ranks second at 2.8%.

The same study looks at cocaine and cannibis usage across the world too. While data for these abuses are lacking for Singapore, prevalence of cannibis use in Malaysia and Indonesia was 1.6% and 0.4% respectively. The prevalence of cocaine use in Indonesia was less than 0.1%. No data was available for Malaysia.

That prevalence of cocaine and cannibis use in the US was 2.4% and 13.7% respectively.

So why am I drawing references to the US? Well, because the US is such a huge advocator of human rights, and the downside to giving its people so much freedom to live however they want is the flood of social ills and crime. With freedom comes responsibility, and humans are not exactly absolutely responsible beings. If we could get away with something, chances are, we would do it.

And this leads me to a piece of news that hit our newspapers earlier this week. New York-headquarted Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent the Singapore president an appeal against the death sentence of Malaysian national Yong Vui Kong, who was found guilty of possessing 42.27 grams of heroin in 2008. Yong was initially sentenced to death in December 2008 but he managed to escape the gallows several times through appeals.

Yong's third appeal was denied in early April, and it has been reported that he is down to his last chance.

What I found appalling was what Phil Robertson, HRW deputy Asia director, said in his appeal: "Singapore’s mandatory death sentences clearly violate international human rights standards.

"Executing another young man for a narcotics offence will only reinforce the image of Singapore’s authorities as oblivious to basic rights and due process."

Sticking to the death sentence is necessary to demonstrate our resolution in maintaining a drug-free (or as much as possible) society and to discourage would-be traffickers. As a possible future parent, I want Singapore to be as clean as possible, so that my children will not risk being exposed to lifestyle drugs as a user or a peddler and have his/her life wasted.

Yong had a choice – he chose to carry drugs across our border.

I will never be able to understand the depth of pain his family has to go through with this looming death sentence, and I hope never would I have to understand it. Still, I must admit that this is indeed very unfortunate. While one could offer sympathy, there is no place for pardon. Yong must be punished, and in accordance to Singapore's anti-drug laws.

Singapore cannot give potential drug traffickers a single ounce of hope that they might escape death should they ever try to bring drugs onto our land.

I hope our president will stay strong and not waver under pressure from outsiders who have no stake in Singapore's present and future.

[Itali4must4ng]

fck these chao ang moh lah. they like to take drugs then want us to go down with them meh? remember opium war bo? they controlled the chinese population through the use of opium.

[Vid]

Colorado USA just legalized the sale of weed so....

[1fast1]

Banning heroin is fine. But if they wanna ban marijuana (rhyme!), they'd better ban alcohol and tobacco too. Otherwise they just look hypocritical (that applies to many states of the US, too). Alcohol is, by many objective measures, more hazardous to one's short-term functioning and long-term health than marijuana. Smoking doesn't impair functioning in the short-term but it has devastating long term consequences. And smoking exposes "innocent bystanders" to risk via secondary smoke inhalation.

 

C'mon Singapore, show us how strong you are! Be bloody consistent! Ban alcohol and tobacco!

Edited January 7, 2014 by Turboflat4

[Picnic06-Biante15]

Banning heroin is fine. But if they wanna ban marijuana (rhyme!), they'd better ban alcohol and tobacco too. Otherwise they just look hypocritical (that applies to many states of the US, too). Alcohol is, by many objective measures, more hazardous to one's short-term functioning and long-term health than marijuana. Smoking doesn't impair functioning in the short-term but it has devastating long term consequences. And smoking exposes "innocent bystanders" to risk via secondary smoke inhalation.

 

C'mon Singapore, show us how strong you are! Be bloody consistent! Ban alcohol and tobacco!

 

A lot of big tobacco compaines comes from USA....

 

If banned, they sure kpkb big big .....

[1fast1]

 

A lot of big tobacco compaines comes from USA....

 

If banned, they sure kpkb big big .....

 

That's why we need "strong" government to take the lead in fighting the fat cats and big boys.

 

Or are they only strong for internal consumption.

[Watwheels]

Banning heroin is fine. But if they wanna ban marijuana (rhyme!), they'd better ban alcohol and tobacco too. Otherwise they just look hypocritical (that applies to many states of the US, too). Alcohol is, by many objective measures, more hazardous to one's short-term functioning and long-term health than marijuana. Smoking doesn't impair functioning in the short-term but it has devastating long term consequences. And smoking exposes "innocent bystanders" to risk via secondary smoke inhalation.

 

C'mon Singapore, show us how strong you are! Be bloody consistent! Ban alcohol and tobacco!

 

Cannot! Later loss of taxes/income from these items. And APB sgp who produce Tiger beer got to close shop and ppl lose their jobs. Cannot lah. Not a good suggestion. LoL...

[Vid]

 

That's why we need "strong" government to take the lead in fighting the fat cats and big boys.

 

Or are they only strong for internal consumption.

 

From the amount of tax money our gahmen earn from alcohol and tobacco, well, you can be sure they can't be strong. Don't think they can even stand.

[Myxilplix]

Ain't nothing wrong with a little weed, bro.

[Picnic06-Biante15]

 

That's why we need "strong" government to take the lead in fighting the fat cats and big boys.

 

Or are they only strong for internal consumption.

 

Well I believed this had been discussed before. If total ban will loose tourist money .....

 

KNN......... compare with our COE, which one generate more money ?

[Watwheels]

My niece texted me this article because she was preparing for secondary school project and asked for my inputs. My initial reply to her:" K**! School reopen less than a month and you kanna project liao meh? Sai school! "

 

I think it must be some anti-drug campaign but now with this human rights angle, dunno how to explain it to her. She think that angmohs are very kaypoh. LOL (which I agree) .

 

http://carrot-uncensored.blogspot.sg/2012/05/human-rights-is-bulls**t-in-war-against.html

 

Just go to the human-rights website to read where they are coming from, their goal, why they want to preserve a precious life. IMO It's not kaypoh. There are ppl in poor financial condition that they are easily manipulated by drug kingpins or drug lords. Aiya, ppl here so good life, how will they see this?

 

Our law is a deterrence and a very strong one which carry a death sentence. Should a person's life be dictated by this law? Or is there an alternative option for him to choose to live?

 

It's important to point out what both parties see or rather hope to see. Our law is pretty straight forward and clear cut. Do human rights group support drugs? What's their stand on drugs if they hope to save drug mules from life sentence? Maybe you can ask her to write to them and ask. I think they will give you their point of view. Your niece will have a clearer picture of what they are trying to do.

[Darryn]

One assumes the niece has been asked to critique the article? To propose a counter argument or give her thoughts in a structured manner?

 

This might be one place to start: http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5880&context=jclc (it's a PDF, I can't cut and past) read the second paragraph of the conclusion

 

It may also be interesting to read this article http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130401/lead/lead3.html and then note that Jamaica (Barbadoes) has a reported opiate use of 0.01

 

It may also be interesting to see if there is any sort of contrast between the "controllability" of the border and drug use as well to see if that makes a difference if you wanted to take a different angle with the article. Remembering that in the case of Singapore we have (according to the world factbook we have 687 km of coastline as opposed to USA having a little over 9 million)

 

The upshot, is probably to question whether

a) the death penalty is an effective deterrent in drug smuggling? (when compared to another penalty)

b) is the death penalty the major / predominant cause in the low rate of opiate abuse in Singapore?

c) are there other factors that lead to low opiate abuse in Singapore (if you want to make the case that the death penalty stops drug abuse)

d) as a stand-alone, is the death penalty ever justified?

e) Are the people that smuggle drugs into Singapore doing it out of "choice" (desire for profit), or are there other motivating factors?

[Darryn]

Did she explain what was the topic of the project?

 

I just looked at the table linked in the article - it is interesting to note the very low rates of use for Canada and Mexico in comparison to the US.

 

What I guess I am saying is that the article is trying to paint a particular picture of the US, that may or may not be correct, and that it has been selective in its use of data for effect.

 

What may be an interesting exercise, would be to compare income levels and opiate abuse...

[Baal]

Banning heroin is fine. But if they wanna ban marijuana (rhyme!), they'd better ban alcohol and tobacco too. Otherwise they just look hypocritical (that applies to many states of the US, too). Alcohol is, by many objective measures, more hazardous to one's short-term functioning and long-term health than marijuana. Smoking doesn't impair functioning in the short-term but it has devastating long term consequences. And smoking exposes "innocent bystanders" to risk via secondary smoke inhalation.

 

C'mon Singapore, show us how strong you are! Be bloody consistent! Ban alcohol and tobacco!

I cut out a little article from ntp a few years back. Was a UK study on the harm to oneself & society at large by various substances.

 

Number 1 spot held by Alcohol. Ironically, this is the substance that has low lax relative to tobacco. Also no gory images on the bottles. Most socially acceptable form of substance abuse worldwide.

 

Tobacco held around 4th I think. Heroin, cocaine, opiates was around there too. Weed I recalled was significantly lower. Was a comparison across 20 substances.

 

Found it : http://www.sg.unimaas.nl/_OLD/oudelezingen/dddsd.pdf

 

It elaborates on how the decision is made, factors included eg, harm to self %, harm to others %....etc etc...

 

Alcohol by most accounts is the worst by a clear margin. Even more so than heroine which holds 2nd. Tobacco and Weed holds 6th & 8th respectively.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Baal

[Jman888]

My niece texted me this article because she was preparing for secondary school project and asked for my inputs. My initial reply to her:" K**! School reopen less than a month and you kanna project liao meh? Sai school! "

 

 

 

 

Pupils' 'welcome gift' on first day back at school: Exam dates

Friday, Jan 03, 2014

Pupils from a primary school in Singapore were in for a rude shock when they were greeted by their exam schedules - on their first day of school.

A reader known as Jeslyn laments the overemphasis on academics after finding out that her friend's child received his exam dates immediately after the holidays, reported Stomp.

She said: "What a warm welcome gift from one of the primary schools to the students: CA1 test dates! Goodness!

"The students are supposed to go back to school happily since they just got back from their holidays.

"It's so sad that they have to receive their exam schedules so fast. They must be feeling stressed out."

 

 

people first day already given exam time table

Banning heroin is fine. But if they wanna ban marijuana (rhyme!), they'd better ban alcohol and tobacco too. Otherwise they just look hypocritical (that applies to many states of the US, too). Alcohol is, by many objective measures, more hazardous to one's short-term functioning and long-term health than marijuana. Smoking doesn't impair functioning in the short-term but it has devastating long term consequences. And smoking exposes "innocent bystanders" to risk via secondary smoke inhalation.

 

C'mon Singapore, show us how strong you are! Be bloody consistent! Ban alcohol and tobacco!

 

 

you are doctor leh, if everyone so healthy you where got business

[1fast1]

 

 

 

people first day already given exam time table

 

 

you are doctor leh, if everyone so healthy you where got business

 

You're right, I should be a mortician like RadX. Hey RadX can take padawan bro?

[Darryn]

Depending on the purpose of the project - you might also want to raise the idea of how highly emotional the opening sentence is

 

 

Once again, some foreign organisation has decided to stick its nose into Singapore's affairs and critique our "draconian" laws and capital punishment for drug trafficking.

 

With an opening sentence like that, you kinda know the rest of the article is not going to be very balanced, and also the use of scare quotes in draconian...

 

It is an appeal to emotion, rather than a reasoned argument.

[1fast1]

My niece texted me this article because she was preparing for secondary school project and asked for my inputs. My initial reply to her:" K**! School reopen less than a month and you kanna project liao meh? Sai school! "

 

I think it must be some anti-drug campaign but now with this human rights angle, dunno how to explain it to her. She think that angmohs are very kaypoh. LOL (which I agree) .

 

http://carrot-uncensored.blogspot.sg/2012/05/human-rights-is-bulls**t-in-war-against.html

 

Once again, some foreign organisation has decided to stick its nose into Singapore's affairs and critique our "draconian" laws and capital punishment for drug trafficking.

 

The death sentence for all convicted drug traffickers was set in place for a reason. We cannot afford to let drug problems cripple families and the nation's well-being, especially when Singapore has no natural resources and is reliant on its human resources.

 

Singaporeans are educated on the hazards of drug abuse right from a young age through teachers and parents, as well as public campaigns. For those who take a wrong step and fall into substance abuse, there are rehab houses that help them out of the pits and put them back on track in life.

 

To reinforce these efforts, steps must also be taken to prevent, or at least minimise, the inflow of drugs. What use is there if children were taught not to abuse drugs but ecstasy, heroin, cocaine and all the devils were easily available off street corners?

 

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's World Drug Report 2011, the annual prevalence of opiates (defined as a drug containing or derived from opium) use as a percentage of the population aged 15-64 was 0.01. Malaysia and Indonesia, which also impose the death penalty on convicted drug traffickers, have a prevalence of use of 0.94% and 0.16% respectively.

 

That prevalence of use in the US was 5.9% – the highest of all countries surveyed. Costa Rica ranks second at 2.8%.

 

The same study looks at cocaine and cannibis usage across the world too. While data for these abuses are lacking for Singapore, prevalence of cannibis use in Malaysia and Indonesia was 1.6% and 0.4% respectively. The prevalence of cocaine use in Indonesia was less than 0.1%. No data was available for Malaysia.

 

That prevalence of cocaine and cannibis use in the US was 2.4% and 13.7% respectively.

 

So why am I drawing references to the US? Well, because the US is such a huge advocator of human rights, and the downside to giving its people so much freedom to live however they want is the flood of social ills and crime. With freedom comes responsibility, and humans are not exactly absolutely responsible beings. If we could get away with something, chances are, we would do it.

 

And this leads me to a piece of news that hit our newspapers earlier this week. New York-headquarted Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent the Singapore president an appeal against the death sentence of Malaysian national Yong Vui Kong, who was found guilty of possessing 42.27 grams of heroin in 2008. Yong was initially sentenced to death in December 2008 but he managed to escape the gallows several times through appeals.

 

Yong's third appeal was denied in early April, and it has been reported that he is down to his last chance.

 

What I found appalling was what Phil Robertson, HRW deputy Asia director, said in his appeal: "Singapore’s mandatory death sentences clearly violate international human rights standards.

 

"Executing another young man for a narcotics offence will only reinforce the image of Singapore’s authorities as oblivious to basic rights and due process."

 

Sticking to the death sentence is necessary to demonstrate our resolution in maintaining a drug-free (or as much as possible) society and to discourage would-be traffickers. As a possible future parent, I want Singapore to be as clean as possible, so that my children will not risk being exposed to lifestyle drugs as a user or a peddler and have his/her life wasted.

 

Yong had a choice – he chose to carry drugs across our border.

 

I will never be able to understand the depth of pain his family has to go through with this looming death sentence, and I hope never would I have to understand it. Still, I must admit that this is indeed very unfortunate. While one could offer sympathy, there is no place for pardon. Yong must be punished, and in accordance to Singapore's anti-drug laws.

 

Singapore cannot give potential drug traffickers a single ounce of hope that they might escape death should they ever try to bring drugs onto our land.

 

I hope our president will stay strong and not waver under pressure from outsiders who have no stake in Singapore's present and future.

 

Seriously, I think your niece should read Alan Shadrake's book. Might change her mind or at least soften her stance.

 

Oh wait, that book is banned. Too bad our children cannot be trusted with the products of another's free expression.