Spacehamster’s Blog

I’ve tried to refrain from commenting on the tragic case of Trang Nguyen lately. It’s a horrible incident but I would like to respectfully remind people that Mr. Nguyen chose to travel to Singapore with these drugs. Granted, his twin brother was heavily in debt, but surely there were better ways to generate the money needed? Were the circumstances so dire that it was worth risking his own life?

Paul Kelly (from the Australian) has, what I think, is an excellent article on the wider ramifications in today’s Australian. I think it’s a great read, and more than adequately sums up Australian-Singapore relations from the Aussie point-of-view.

And here’s some responses collated from the Crikey website. It’s interesting to note that most of the objections appear to come from Human-Rights activists in Singapore.

On a more personal note, my Uncle (and I think his daughter) from Singapore are paying our family a surprise visit next month. Unfortunately, our guest room has been used as a storage area for the past few years, and we’re going to be busy clearing out the room over the weekend. Since nobody in our house likes “hard manual labour” very much, I suspect that the task will be carried out with a large degree of cursing.

The last time I visited Singapore was ten years ago, just before I started University. I would’ve enjoyed my visit a lot more if I hadn’t come down with a bad case of the tummy troubles. Sitting on the white porcelain for the entire duration of a five-day visit to one of Asia’s most technologically advanced cities is not my idea of fun.

I must admit to being very nervous about my Uncle’s timing. According to my father, Singapore newspapers haven’t written anything about Nguyen’s upcoming execution, and neither have they written anything about the negativity within the Australian community about that decision. I’m very frightened and afraid that my Uncle might face an extremely hostile reception down here if people find out which country he comes from. My family would say I was being paranoid - I would disagree. Most Australians have an undercurrent of xenophobia and fear when it comes to their Asian neighbours to the north. “They’re not like us, they don’t think like us” has been a constant refrain for as long as I can remember.

Nevertheless, I hope my Uncle will enjoy his visit to Tasmania - it’s a beautiful place, and as different from Singapore as you can get.