Australian drug smuggler hanged this morning

Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, who was arrested in late 2002 carrying almost 400 grams of heroin, has been hanged in a Singapore prison this morning.

I just wanted to say that I'm deeply saddened by this, it makes me feel sick inside. I know we have to respect other countries' justice systems, but still, it's such a tradegy. What a sad world. They didn't even let his Mother hug him one last time, she was only allowed to hold his hand...

I don't want this to turn into a debate about whether capital punishment is right or wrong because I'm sure it's been done plenty of times before. I just wanted to express my feelings on this particular issue, I don't think my day will be very happy today.

It's his mother I feel sorry for.

It's also a very difficult issue. A caller to the morning show on Channel 7 put it quite succinctly this morning when she said she really felt for the mother as she herself had lost a son, but as she lost her son to a heroin overdose she couldn't feel the same for Van Nguyen.

I only hope his family is left in peace to deal with their grief and not hounded by the press a la Michelle Leslie in order to get a soundbite.

I will never set foot in Singapore.

Not until they stop arresting homosexuals, stop hanging drug addicts, and stop censoring free speech, for starters. The caning needs to go, too.

I won't knowingly give a cent of my money to that country.

what a horrible fate it must be to outlive your own child.

I want to know how she was allowed to hold his hand. Was it through a tiny hole in the glass or what? Cos I think that if I was about to be hanged and nothing was going to stop me otherwise, if I got anything that resembled close to my mother, I'd say "**** the hands only" and hug her.

Although i hink it's it's terrible that this guy was hanged, i can't fathom why people try and smuggle herion from places where the government will kill you if you'e caught.......

If you're aware of the dangers of these countries.. it really is in your best interest to behave.....

Tait, while i haven't been to Singapore or any of the regions surrounding i can see why some one would think its easy to smuggle drugs in and out of there.

My sister and my father both went on holiday there and i have many friends who have also been. The concensus is that the government is attempting to squash a problem in the quickest time possible. It could be compared to stopping jaywalking by the same means (i by no means feel that these two crimes are comparable, its a comparison). The public essentially are either not bothered with it or are too scared to report it.

I'm in Singapore at the moment, staying with a girl from Oz and have asked a few people about this. Like most people on this board I really don't approve of capital punishment, there's too many philosophical, moral and legal flaws to it. But whilst I generally disapprove of the death penalty and I do feel incredibly sorry for his family and friends, I find little compassion for somebody who's getting hanged for commiting such a serious offence in a country so famous for it's death penalty. If you're not willing to face the punishment, avoid the crime. And here the stakes are really high!

The people in Singapore are all rather well behaved as they do live under an authoritarian regime. But many people really seem to like that life: it's very easy as it is so controlling. Me, I'm looking forward to being back in a country with a bit more 'life'!

And Lightning, so far I've seen at least 2 openly gay bars and the scene is now apparently recognised. But but as the guys are all a little bit on the small side you might not need to visit to check it out!

Don't forget cutting the hair of even the male tourists because they were paranoid about the "hippies" from america.

I agree with Dom. Thems the rules regardless of how fair/humane/in need of review they are.

I feel bad for the family and friends, as already stated.

Other than that...I honestly have no issues with it.
Follow the rules or face the consequences.
We all have to. We all have those choices to make. We all reap what we sow.
*shrug*
His poor mama, but then again, the poor mama's of the people he helped supply whose lives are ruined.

I just don't see getting sad about this. There are too many other things going on in this world which are real travesties.

*comment deleted by Pele*.........yes hanging is inhumane, but so is the slow decline (and sometimes death) of a herion junkie. We keep forgetting that this bloke had as much heroin on him as the 'Bali 9' put together..........think of all the people who don't get their hits now. If you've had to watch friends slowly die from heroin addiction, then you'd have little sympathy for this guy, beside, everyone knows that the asian countries are hard lined when it comes to drug smuggling........why would you even try unless you were prepared to hang??? You reap what you sow, and when you're dealing in death (heroin) you get death.............

Doc

How can you care for a man like this suggling heroin!Well i dont feel sorry for this man he got what was coming to him.
sorry im so cold about this topic but with law like this i belive there would be less crime of this nature such as rape,murder,crappy tv and film remakes...well mybe not....
mike.c

Yanno, there are may offenses that can lead to death of others, including jaywalking. We don't hang people for all of them.

I can see death for someone where it can be clearly demonstrated that they are such a danger to society that even life in prison is too risky as there would be a risk of escape.

Other than that, I oppose the death penalty.

thats true mike but i think ud find there would be a rapid decline in jaywalking if it was punishable by death ..... personally i think that if you stupid enough to take drugs into a country that clearly says they will hang u for smuggling drugs then ur probably better off out of the gene pool.

why just lock someone up for life??i mean if i had a chioce bettween death or life in a box..i think death would cut out the middle man ya know...plus i would'nt be raising tax for the rest of the england....see how i think of you guys too!
mike.c

Original post: Why do we have to kill people, who killed people to prove that the killing of people is wrong... ??? Death penalty is wrong, heroin-trafficking is wrong - hence two wrongs don't make a right... never can... As a parent I would ask myself what I have seriously done wrong by raising him into death row...

But now - thinking twice upon it:

What an big stupid mega-[censored] this guy was! I have lost all compassion for him...

Not just that he has the stupidity to smuggle 400grams of heroin AND set foot on South East Asean soil - he neither gave a f**k about his own fate and life, nor did he even think a split second to his parents and what they would go through if he was caught!

Question: what is the difference between a kid stripping half a kg poison around his waist, or another kid stripping half a kg C4 around his?

Anyone got an answer to that?

its a silly question

One you're willing to ponder upon?

---LOL---

nice sense of humor

you're ... knew it ... a pommie