Thoughts for the condemned

TACK METTA spends a troubled night thinking of an execution hundreds of kilometres away

THE RINGING tone of a passing remark echoes in your ear: 'Spare a thought for your brother…'

Your mind doesn't stop to ponder the source of the words; rather it does a fast forward and focuses on the words 'spare a thought…'

Like the vibrations of a tuning fork tapering off towards total silence, the attention of your mind lingers on the sound as it does a balancing act on the thin line between wakefulness and sleep.

The nigh! t is hot and humid, abuzz with mosquitoes as they buzz around the room in excited eagerness to sting, a behaviour perhaps prompted by the new rains.

Instructions from the mind tell you the night is ripe for tossing and turning and a slumber that would afford you no rest at all tonight.

A small part of your mind interprets that to mean that this rest will be the type that enables you to close you eyes and drift off into the early phases of rapid eye movement (REM), but which fails miserably to stop the mind from shutting off altogether and sinking into oblivion - the final phase of REM, as it were.

The grim thought of death lingered, or more precisely wafted like a mist in front of your mind's eye, as if mocking you.

You will your mind to rid its confines of the macabre thoughts but in the process, a small part of your mind intensifies the scenario and a face takes shape in the darkness. With its formation comes the sta! tic of squeaky voices and somber music, the latter sounding more like a dirge.

It seems you were not only sparing a thought for your brother but more, living a part of him.

The thought had come upon you at work yesterday when you read the headline and the news:

SINGAPORE, Nov 30 AFP - Singapore's prime minister has dismissed calls to save a young Australian drug runner from imminent hanging despite condemnation from international human rights groups.

As the deadline for Nguyen Tuong Van's execution on Friday draws near, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made it clear the city-state would go ahead with the hanging.

Lee, currently in Europe, told French newspaper Le Figaro that the death penalty "is necessary and is part of the criminal justice system," rejecting claims that executing people for non-violent crimes is out of date and inhuman.

"We also think that drug traffic! king is a crime that deserves the death penalty.

The evil inflicted on thousands of people with drug trafficking demands that we must tackle the source by punishing the traffickers rather than trying to pick up the pieces afterwards," he said. "It's a law which is approved of by Singapore's inhabitants and which allows us to reduce the drug problem."

By last night, Nguyen, a Vietnamese-born Australian citizen would have gone through the last rites and by the time you read about this morning, Nguyen would have already paid the ultimate price for drug trafficking.

You did not just spare him a thought; you gave it plenty of thought. You thought of his own thoughts as the clock ticked away; you thought of the effort or lack of it to save him from the gallows; you thought of his family and the individual thoughts of the family members before and after, especially those of the mother who was about to lose her son; you thought o! f the efforts made by leaders and concerned individuals and organizations to save Nguyen from the gallows and you thought of all the arguments for and against the decision to hang Nguyen.

As an afterthought, you thought about the thoughts of Nguyen and his twin brother - whether their thoughts were the same and on the same wavelength and whether they were identical or otherwise and if one's death would make a difference on the life of the other.

Nguyen, acted as a mule for a drug smuggling syndicate to earn the money to pay for his twin brother's legal fees over a drug abuse case.

The thought you spared developed into a multiplicity of emotions and debate on a highly sensitive subject.

Be that as it may, at the end of the anxiety, stress and emotions that befit such occasions, you aren't the only one sparing a thought for the condemned.

Melbourne Indymedia, a website produced by grassroots medi! a makers offering non-corporate coverage of struggles, actions and celebrations filed a number of people's thoughts on the issues.

Here's an edited thought of Darwin-based freelance journalist Gary Meyerhoff:
"I remember back when I was eleven years old. I was at a friend's place and like most Australian homes the television was blaring constantly in the background. I vividly remember stopping to watch a report that Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers had been executed and I remember a horrible feeling as I tried to make sense of what had just happened.

Barlow and Chambers were hanged in Malaysia on July 07, 1986 for the alleged trafficking of 141.9g of heroin. Back then, I didn't really know what heroin was, but I knew who Barlow and Chambers were.

The Australian media lapped up the Barlow and Chambers case, using it to sell more and more newspapers and to increase the ratings on their news and current affairs programmes. Once the e! xecutions were carried out the Australian news barons dropped the story as quickly as the two young Australians had dropped through the trapdoor in Pudu Prison.

Almost 20 years after the deaths of Barlow and Chambers, Nguyen Tuong Van, on his first trip overseas from Australia, was arrested at Singapore airport. Police alleged that Nguyen was in possession of 400g of heroin. A Singapore court sentenced him to death for this crime in March 2004…"

One thought that crops up in Meyerhoffs' mind is whether race has a lot to do with developments surrounding Nguyen's situation:

"Brian Chambers, Kevin Barlow, Schapelle Corby and Chris Packer (Australians getting on the wrong side of the law in Asia), all have one thing in common. They are all white Australians. Nguyen Tuong Van is an Australian of Vietnamese origin. Australia's predominantly white journalists (and our white Prime Minister) have written him off as just another Viet boy dealing! smack, just like they write-off the residents of the Block in Redfern and Cabramatta in Sydney.

During a recent visit to Singapore, Australian Prime Minister John Howard held a meeting with his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong where he put forward a half-hearted request for clemency. Mr Howard told the Melbourne Age; "I believe there's a very good case for clemency but people must understand that the laws of Singapore are well known and I think we'll leave it at that."

Responding to the Age reporters question on whether the execution of Nguyen would have an impact on bilateral relations between the two countries, Howard said: "Look, I think we have to keep a balance here."

Meyerhoff interpreted this to mean: "What Howard was saying was that Australia's military relationship with Singapore is worth more to us economically than Nguyen Tuong Van.

If Nguyen was called Barry and he was from Vaucluse or Sydney's North Shore,! Howard would be doing everything in his power to stop the hanging.
Singapore has executed more than four hundred people since 1991, mostly for drug trafficking, giving Singapore the dubious distinction of having the highest execution rate in the world relative to population.

Robert McNab thinks Nguyen was trying to import "white death" into Australia . "Nguyen deserves no sympathy. Let's just hope his death will serve as a reminder to others who want to deal in drugs. If only Australia would adopt some of Singapore's laws…"

J. Marchese disagree: "Open your eyes Mr McNab ... it's always the small fish that get executed. The corrupt big fish in political and law enforcement establishments never ever get caught, and never ever get executed. Wake up and smell the roses!"

Priscilla Choi, a freelence journalist and Catholic perhaps has the last words: "I don't agree in the killing of another human being through execution or terrorism.! For God's sake this person is only a boy who was put in a bad situation. CAN YOU NOT IMAGINE WHAT HE IS GOING THROUGH?"

One thought is that Nguyen since March 2004 knew he was going to meet his Maker. Up to some weeks ago, he knew exactly when.

And you wonder if that is an advantage over billions who know not exactly when the time will come "like a thief in the dark".

He has been judged my men and penalized accordingly to the laws of the land. It does remind you of a similar incident that happened some 2000 years ago.
Be that as it may, we have all been reminded often enough that you only go around once in life and after that, the judgment.

Newshawk: Legalise All Drugs http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Friday, 23 December 2005
Source: The National (Papua New Guinea)
Author: Tack Metta
Website: http://www.thenational.com.pg/
Email: letters@thenational.com.pg