Singapore Hangs A Man For Drug Trafficking. It Will Hang A Woman On Friday — The First In 19 Years

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - A man takes a nap as the central business district is shrouded by haze in Singapore, on Sept. 23, 2019. Singapore executed a man Wednesday, July 26, 2023, for drug trafficking and is set to hang a woman Friday — the first in 19 years — prompting renewed calls for a halt to capital punishment. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (AP) — Singapore executed a man Wednesday for drug trafficking and is set to hang a woman Friday — the first in 19 years — prompting renewed calls for a halt to capital punishment.

Mohammed Aziz Hussain, 56, was hanged at Singapore’s Changi Prison and has been buried, said activist Kirsten Han of Transformative Justice Collective, which advocates for abolishing the death penalty in Singapore. A citizen of the city-state, he was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 50 grams (1.75 ounces) of heroin, Han said.

Saridewi Djamani, a 45-year-old Singaporean woman, is due to be hanged Friday after she was convicted and sentenced in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams (1.05 ounces) of heroin, the group and other human rights organizations said. Han said the last woman known to have been hanged in Singapore was 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen, also for drug trafficking, in 2004.

“Singaporean authorities must immediately stop these blatant violations of the right to life in their obsessive enforcement of misguided drug policies,” Adilur Rahman Khan, secretary-general of the International Federation of Human Rights, said in a statement.

If Djamani’s is executed as planned, Singapore will have executed 15 people for drug offences since it resumed hangings in March 2022, an average of one execution every month, Transformative Justice Collective, Amnesty International and seven other groups said in a joint statement.

Anyone — citizens and foreigners alike — convicted of trafficking more than 500 grams (17.64 ounces) of cannabis and 15 grams (0.53 ounces) of heroin faces the mandatory death penalty.

Human rights groups, British business mogul Richard Branson and the United Nations have urged Singapore to halt executions for drug-related offenses as increasing evidence shows the death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent. But Singapore authorities insist that all prisoners get due process of law and that capital punishment remains key to helping halt both drug demand and supply.

The joint statement by Transformative Justice Collective and other groups noted that Law Minister K. Shanmugam reportedly acknowledged in a 2022 interview that Singapore’s harsh policy on drugs has not led to the arrest of the so-called drug kingpins.

“Instead of disrupting drug cartels … the government of Singapore deliberately retains capital drug laws that, in practice, operate to punish low-level traffickers and couriers, who are typically recruited from marginalised groups with intersecting vulnerabilities,” the statement said.

The groups said Singapore is out of step with the global trend of more countries moving away from capital punishment. Neighboring Thailand has legalized cannabis while Malaysia ended the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes this year. The groups urged Singapore to halt all executions and instead pursue effective measures to humanely address drug trafficking in the country.

Asian Stocks Tumble As Comment Period For US Tariffs Ends

This Jan. 9, 2017, file photo shows the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The U.S. stock market opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

BY ANNABELLE LIANG

SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian markets fell Thursday on fears that the U.S. is on the verge of imposing tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese goods in an escalating trade dispute.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.4 percent to 22,492.32, and the Kospi in South Korea dropped 0.1 percent to 2,288.89. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 1.2 percent to 26,911.65. The Shanghai Composite index was 0.7 percent lower at 2,686.81. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.2 percent to 6,154.20. Shares were lower in Taiwan and most of Southeast Asia.

WALL STREET: Technology stocks fell on Wednesday as Facebook and Twitter executives testified before Congress, leading most U.S. indexes lower. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told a Senate panel they are working to stop manipulation of their services by foreign countries. The S&P 500 index dropped 0.3 percent to 2,888.60. The Nasdaq composite, which has a high concentration of technology companies, gave up 1.2 percent to 7,995.17. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks lost 0.3 percent to 1,727.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1 percent to 25,974.99, as the weaker dollar saw industrial companies including 3M and Caterpillar posting gains.

US-CHINA TRADE: Traders fear that the Trump administration is on the cusp of imposing tariffs of up to 25 percent on an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports, once a public comment period ends Thursday. These tariffs are the administration’s response to its charges that Beijing uses predatory tactics to try to supplant U.S. technological supremacy. Since March, the U.S. has applied new tariffs of up to 25 percent on nearly $85 billion worth of steel and aluminum and various Chinese products, mostly goods used in manufacturing. Separately, the U.S. and Canada have resumed negotiations to try to keep Canada in an updated North American trade pact that also includes Mexico. Canada’s trade envoy sounded positive after three hours of talks, and investors are confident Canada will be included in the final deal.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “An adverse announcement by the U.S. will invoke retaliatory tariffs from China, and this could rattle already nervy markets amid escalating trade tensions,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost 18 cents to $68.54 a barrel. It fell 1.6 percent to $68.72 a barrel in New York late Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gave up 11 cents to $77.16 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 111.34 yen from 111.51 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.1626 from $1.1623.

Q & A Interview With Professor Alvin Lim

I bumped into Professor Alvin Lim at West African Documentary (WAD) that I begun at Facebook, trying to explore the concepts of the region, and at the same time putting research into perspective on the vagaries and uncertainties of an entire continent that has so much to offer in terms of human capital and natural resources. Alvin and I argued on the concept of Chinese exploration of Africa and its determination to develop the dark continent by way of dedication, commerce and financial security, insisting China has no intention of colonization. We talked about many other stuff including his employment at American University of Nigeria (AUN) where he would now sit as professor of Asian politics and International relations. Alvin just got to Nigeria some days ago and having a feel of Abuja in his new 2-bedroom apartment.

Excerpt:
Tell me about yourself.


I am from Singapore, which like Nigeria was a British colony. I studied Philosophy and Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, receiving my BA (Hons.) degree in 1999 and my MA in 2002. I moved to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, to lecture in Philosophy at Pannasastra University in 2005, and in 2008 I moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, to start my Ph.D. studies in Political Science. I graduated with my Ph.D. in May 2011, and am currently expanding my dissertation into a book, "Cambodia and the Politics of Aesthetics."

Let us talk about your teaching assignment in Nigeria. How did the Nigerian project get started?


Back in February I saw a notice from the American University of Nigeria looking for a professor in Asian Studies. At that time I was completing my dissertation and felng assignment in Nigeria. How did the Nigeria project get stat that this was an interesting opportunity to pursue. I had always been interested in Africa, the cradle of humanity, and my interest had been peaked by my Ph.D. readings in postcolonial African writers like Frantz Fanon, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and Achille Mbembe. I sent in my job application and was pleasantly surprised when I was contacted in March for the job interview.

How would you describe your feelings when you picked up your STR Visa confirming the assignment to lecture in one of Nigeria’s universities?


I felt very excited - this is a big move for me, as this will be my first time in Africa, a continent I've only read and dreamed about.

What would you be doing in Nigeria?


I'll be teaching courses in Asian politics and international relations. I'll also be completing "Cambodia and the Politics of Aesthetics" and starting on my second book.

From your point of view, what area of discipline needs more attention as the country’s higher institutions faces the challenges of better education?

There's always a tension in the relationship between the economy and education, in that the graduates of the education system may not have the knowledge and skills necessary for job creation or even to fill the available jobs in the economy. Cambodia and the USA are having big problems with unemployed and unemployable graduates, and this problem exists in many other countries as well. The challenge is to encourage entrepreneurship on one hand and on the other to ensure a match of knowledge and skills with the existing needs of the job market.

What do you hope to accomplish?


I hope to equip my students with a good understanding of Asia, especially if they plan to do business or make a living there after they graduate.

Chinese migration to Nigeria has overwhelmingly grown over the years. The general feelings are that the country is facing another era of colonization. What’s your take on that viewpoint?

I agree with Dambisa Moyo that Nigeria and other African states should take advantage of the investment offered by China to accelerate their economic growth. In addition, China's economic boom has created a vast consumer market that the world's firms are doing their best to expand into, and Nigeria's entrepreneurs should not get left behind. Does this economic engagement represent a new form of colonization? Nigeria has to weigh the economic opportunities against the social impact of the new migrants.

Do you think Chinese migration to Nigeria has any favorable economic impact?

Consider a recent example. In April it was announced that China will loan $900 million to Nigeria to rehabilitate its rail and communications networks. Such an improvement in transportation infrastructure, in particular, the planned construction of the rail link between Abuja and Kaduna, promises substantial economic benefits.

You speak several languages. How are you integrated with Chinese language and culture?


Singapore has a bilingual education policy, such that students have to learn English as well as their mother tongue, which in my case is Mandarin Chinese. Culturally I belong to the Straits Chinese, that is, the culture of the Chinese migrants who settled in British Malaya, the territory that later became Malaysia and Singapore.

When you read the letter from Routledge’s Editorial Board approving your book for publication, what was your reaction?


I felt as happy as I did when I passed my dissertation defense. I was on tenterhooks the past several months as my manuscript went through the peer review process, and was relieved when it passed both the peer review as well as the editorial board's selection process.

You gave a hint that the book was an expansion of your dissertation, ‘using political and aesthetic theory to reflect on the violent history of Cambodia.’ Why did you pick Cambodia?


I chose Cambodia for my Ph.D. research based on the developments I had witnessed during my 3 years of work in Phnom Penh. Cambodia has suffered one of the most violent transitions in recent history, and I was deeply impressed by the resilience of its people.