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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS BY THE:

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS: “ENHANCING OUR DRUG CONTROL FRAMEWORK AND REVIEW OF THE DEATH PENALTY”

MINISTER FOR LAW: “CHANGES TO THE APPLICATIONS OF THE MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY TO HOMICIDE OFFENCES”

1. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs spoke on enhancing Singapore’s drug control framework and review of the death penalty in Parliament on 9 July 2012. The following are the key points that DPM made:

a. We have long taken strict and tough measures to curb the menace of illegal drugs. Drug abuse affects not only the addicts, but also their families and loved ones. The human cost to individuals and society is very high. Those who trade in illegal drugs are still attracted by the huge financial gains to be made, and deterring them requires the strictest enforcement coupled with the severest of penalties.

Ministerial Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law, Mr K Shanmugam

CHANGES TO THE APPLICATION OF THE MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY TO

HOMICIDE OFFENCES

Mr Speaker, Sir

I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

1. As DPM Teo has mentioned, the Government has, over the years, periodically reviewed the way our criminal justice system operates, and the effectiveness of our laws.

2. DPM has explained some of the changes we intend  to make after the latest review. He has spoken about enhancing our drug control framework. He has also informed the House of the Government’s  intention to make changes to the death penalty in its application to drug trafficking.

3. I will now explain the changes we propose to make, in respect of how the mandatory death penalty applies, to homicide cases amounting to murder.

II. THE CHANGES

4. Section 300 of the Penal Code provides that culpable homicide amounts to murder where:

(a) The act by which death is caused is done with the intention of causing death;

(b) The act is done with the intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender knows is likely to cause death;

By Andrew Loh

There are almost a million foreign or migrant workers holding work permits in Singapore. Yet, hardly anyone knows much about them, except that they do the heavy manual work, such as in construction and the marine industry, which perhaps few Singaporeans would do. They are the seen but unknown workers in our midst whose lives we know so little about.

Now, 3 Singaporeans are embarking on a 2-week project to learn the other side of the lives of these workers and shine a little light on the human stories behind the faces. The project will culminate in a photo exhibition and a short film.

By Lisa Li

I went to secondary school and junior college in the 1990s. Sex ed in secondary school meant a few hundred of us 14-year-olds crammed into the school hall to watch the Silent Scream video, named for the open-mouthed 'scream' of a foetus when it is being aborted.

Years later, we all remember it: the video was gruesome, traumatic, certainly quite effective in scaring us. And the logic was simple: You're too young to have a baby. And abortion is a heart-wrenching option. So whatever you do, just don't get pregnant so you don't have to get an abortion. It made sense.