Today, Singapore hanged another drug trafficker named Nazeri Lajim. He was arrested for trafficking two bundles of heroin and sentenced to death in 2017.
Amnesty International, which champions for “human rights” globally, called us out for the cruel punishment. It said that death penalty should only be used for “the most serious crimes“. As an international body that claims to uphold justice, it is appropriate for them to say that drug offences are not serious? How can they tell us to take it lightly?
The real victims
Drug offenders bring drugs into Singapore so that they can resell them here and make profits. In doing so, they caused many victims to suffer from drug overdose and destroyed lives. They tear families apart.
Recently, a woman who was 7 months pregnant tried to escape CNB officers by climbing out of her window. She tried to scale down from the 8th floor. She left her 7-year-old son alone, next to drug paraphernalia. Last month, a 9-month-old boy was found beside his meth-abusing mother.
Personal choice and personal profit
Nobody wants another human being to lose their lives ahead of their time, but these offenders knew that in Singapore, drug trafficking carries a death penalty. Why did they choose to do it?
“Nazeri was painted as a hapless, poor man… The amount of money he paid to traffic in the drugs in a single transaction with the intention of reselling it for a profit was $10 450. That does not seem like a very poor, hapless man.“
These drug traffickers spent 5-figure sums bringing drugs into our country to reap more profits for themselves. Have they spared a thought for the victims who went into drugs because of them?
“Sure the rules are harsh. But when you know the rules and yet do not flinch in breaking them, you have to face the consequences.“
Amnesty International and activists of the like are not the ones who put their lives at risk trying to catch drug traffickers. If they had the time and resources, they should channel them to help the real victims of drug abuse.
“There are indeed poor people in Singapore. Financially poor but morally rich people working hard every single day to make an honest, legitimate living.” These are the people we should focus on helping.
A single hanging of a drug trafficker is a tragedy; a million deaths from drug abuse is a statistic. What a sad reality.