Do I support the death penalty? Yes and no.
For those who are wondering what I mean, let me explain. Yes. Death penalty should be reserved for heinous crimes like cold blooded murder, serial killing, arms dealers, drug dealers and not for drug mules who are often just desperate but not evil people. Hold that thought for a while.
Those who don’t support the death penalty under any circumstances should look at Piers Morgan’s interviews with death row inmates in America where the death penalty is still meted out in some states like Texas, Florida, California etc. Read the comments and it ought to be crystal clear that support for the death penalty for murder is certainly not a minority view. Following the diabolical process of how some of these monsters planned and executed their crimes, I couldn’t help wondering why the protesters still want to save them.
In the US, drug offenders also face tough sentences like huge fines and long prison terms. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China. Vietnam abolished the death penalty for drug offences earlier this year. Interestingly, two countries in the Golden Triangle, Myanmar and Laos also have the death penalty for drug offences. Does it work? Well, again, yes and no.
Pannir Selvam a/l Pranthaman (31 July 1987 – 8 October 2025) was a Malaysian drug trafficker who was executed in Singapore on 8 October 2025. In September 2014, Pannir was caught at Woodlands Checkpoint and found to be in possession of 51.84 grams of heroin. He was charged, convicted and sentenced to death. After his appeal was dismissed in February 2018, Pannir and his family submitted various clemency petitions, which were all rejected on 17 May 2019.
Pannir was originally scheduled to hang on 24 May 2019, but he managed to postpone his execution pending a last-minute appeal to challenge the decision to not pardon him and also the prosecution’s decision to not certify him as a courier. This appeal ended in failure in February 2020, and also in November 2021. A second death warrant scheduled Pannir’s execution for 20 February 2025, but it was delayed due to another appeal. After losing his final appeal, Pannir was executed by hanging in Changi Prison on 8 October 2025.
I’m pretty sure that like me, the vast majority of Singaporeans have absolutely no interest and nothing to do with things like heroin. Unlike murderers, thieves, scammers, crazy cyclists, folks charging poor quality PMDs at home and speeding down narrow footpaths, the simple and obvious fact is that drug mules don’t affect the vast majority of Singaporeans. In fact, I’m more bothered by the smoking family living below my unit than by drug traffickers. That does not mean that we tolerate them. They should certainly be punished severely but with the death penalty? That is what I find questionable and as usual, people in this country don’t like to think and reason. I’m especially put off by people who feel that everybody facing the death penalty should die because the law is the law. But there are reasons for people not to think and question.
SCMP 22 March 2023:
A Singapore rights lawyer, one of a handful defending death-row convicts in the city state, was suspended for five years on Tuesday for making “baseless” allegations against the judicial system.
M. Ravi had told an online publication outside the Supreme Court in 2020 that the public prosecutor had been “overzealous in his prosecution”, after he helped a Malaysian drug convict escape the death penalty on review.
TKL says.
It appears to me that the comment that the public prosecutor has been “overzealous in his prosecution” is a personal opinion and should not be considered as “baseless” attack against the judicial system.
The suspension of five years appears to be excessive. The offense was committed in 2020, i.e. over two years ago.
Tan Kin Lian
I don’t always disagree with Tan Kin Lian. In this case, I would agree with him. Expressing the opinion that the prosecution has been overzealous is a baseless attack against the judicial system? No wonder Singaporeans are such meek, muted and “reactionary” people.
I remember posting on Facebook that I disagree with the death penalty because no billionaires have been executed for their drug dealing businesses. 擒贼擒王. To solve the problem, you need to deal with the root of the problem. Catch the bosses and execute them. Killing the drug mules is like hitting flies and not getting rid of the rotten meat. Celebrity chef Benny Se Teo laughed at my comment, joking that if it’s so easy, I could be chief of police. I didn’t say that it would be easy. I simply said that the efforts should be focussed on catching the bosses. Getting one of them could be worth the destruction of a network or organisation.
Bu then, for some people, there is such a thing as “excessive enforcement”. Maybe even excessive investigations. Too much trouble to catch the mastermind? Just put the full weight of the crime on the mules. We are all busy hamsters. Too much trouble to do the right thing, just say the law is the law. At least you won’t get into trouble for being accused and convicted of attacking the judicial system.
Sure, the drug couriers ought to be punished, but who is the mastermind? Shouldn’t the death penalty be reserved for these people? Why did folks like Pannir who obviously knew the consequences of getting caught still do the crime? Is it a gamble like Russian roulette? It certainly is and only desperate people would do it. Between certain death of jumping off a building and playing Russian roulette, which will you pick? What this means is that as long as people think that they will die if they don’t take a chance, there will be an endless supply of drug mules. No matter how strict our laws and how tight our security, we won’t get rid of them unless we screen our billionaires properly before we let them in.