Dying for Drugs

First thing in the morning, I click on the computer and my homepage gives me this lead story.

Okay, I'm sorry but WTF?!?!?

I'm not advocating drug dealing, smuggling or use. But to hang a 25-year-old kid for trafficking? I've been to Singapore and I've seen the signs warning against spitting in the street. Yeah it's rich and beautiful and the poor people are hidden away on the city's fringes but the undertone is harsh.

"Singapore is a small, affluent society next door to one of the world's biggest suppliers of drugs, the golden triangle. I think Singapore would have been a very different place if it was not tough on it," said political analyst Seah Chiang Nee.

Thanks, Seah. If this is the way you all keep a'hold of that wealth, let's hope your kid doesn't develop a taste for ecstasy.

The blow to the gut of the whole thing is Singapore government's so-called relenting to Nguyen Tuong Van's mother by allowing her to hold his hand and stroke his hair before putting the noose around his neck. Originally, they weren't going to let them see each other at all. My, how considerate.

And shame on Australian PM John Howard. You hope the strongest message that comes out of this is Don't do Drugs? Sure, this kid was of Vietnamese origin but he's still an Australian national. The lesson for you, Mr. Howard, should be to re-think relations with those neighbors across the pond.

Yes, there are problems a-plenty here in Holy Land Central and perhaps I'm out of my league and yes, the Great Country I hail just executed inmate #1000 but this morning, I join the thousands in mourning Nguyen's untimely, cruel death.