Recently I have written a couple of articles on Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van. This morning he was hanged in Changi prison in Singapore.The name Changi is well known to Australians. Changi became a major POWs camp site after Singapore fell under Japan's occupation on Feb. 15, 1942, where some 50,000 allied soldiers and civilians from countries such as Britain, Australia, New Zealand and India were kept.
In 1988, The Changi Museum was opened and the museum and life in Changi, are described in an article published by China View. Part of the description reads:
"The three-and-half-year life in Changi Camp means nothing but a non-stop war against humiliation, starving and disease to win human dignity and freedom, said the ex-POWs, museum staff and visitors.
As depicted in the exhibits named "Deeds We Shall Never Forget"and "Darkest Days", the scrawny allied POWs under the equatorial sun, having nothing but a loincloth, were doing slavish labor, threatened by the Japanese despotism and violence, caning and beating. Rows of Indian POWs were shot, Australians hacked to death and beheaded civilians pilloried."
Now read what Victorian QC Robert Richter, had to say about the death of this convicted drug trafficker.
"Changi is a place that resonates in the Australian psyche ... we remember Changi for the unspeakable horrors that happened there under Japanese occupation. But what happened at Changi this morning is more shameful and worse".
In other words, what the learned gentleman is saying, is that the death, however barbaric, of a convicted, confessed drug trafficker who peddled heroin to pay for the drug related debts of his rat bag brother, is more shameful than the humiliation and deaths of those whose only crime was to fight for their country and to fight for democracy.
Those few words are an insult to men, women and children, of all nationalities, who were incarcerated in Changi during those dark days.
They didn't have the media to push their cause. No crocodile tear shedding, rent-a-cause celebrities and politicians making sure they wipe their eyes when the camera focuses on them. The sort who are happy to be photographed showing their sympathy and support for a drug trafficker, and who would walk past a junkie lying in the gutter without so much as a glance.
There is another irony to this grotesque farce. Nguyen Tuong Van, was arrested in Singapore. He knew the laws and he knew the penalty. Many of the same people who are openly attacking Singapore and their admittedly harsh justice system, are the same ones who when a person from a non-English speaking country complains about life in Australia, are soon told, "Well if you don't like our laws, go back home".
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About the photo: (click to enlarge)
This morning when I looked out my bedroom window, I saw this little chap sitting on a tree feeding on flowers of a jacaranda. I fetched my camera, opened the window and started taking a few shots of him.
When he saw me, far from being frightened, he flew straight onto my window ledge and started "talking" to me. Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but he was looking at me and chirping away umpteen to the dozen. Perhaps he was trying to tell me I should talk to his agent!
Wherever you may be - be safe!
