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As a multicultural and multi-ethnic country facing various social challenges and governance challenges, Founding Father Lee Kuan Yew believed that a harsh legal system was one of the necessary means to ensure social stability and law and order, so he retained the extremely harsh caning.
In the world, few countries use caning, but in Singapore, it is seen as an effective punishment against serious offenses such as drug offences, violent crimes, etc.
What form of punishment is flogging? Under what circumstances is flogging used?
Brutal flogging
Flogging was first invented by the British and later popularized with the expansion of the British colonies.
During the nearly century-and-a-half-long period when Singapore was under British rule, caning was widely used for specific crimes.
The application of this kind of flogging reflected the severe crackdown on serious crimes and the maintenance of social order in the colonial justice system at that time.
During the colonial period, this harsh punishment was seen as one of the means to maintain social order and British colonial rule.
However, attitudes towards caning have gradually changed over time and as Singapore gradually established its own legal system after independence in 1965, the scope and manner of caning has changed.
Under Singapore law, prison authorities have the right to punish offenders with cane lashes of up to 12 lashes for serious breaches in prison.
Judges are also empowered to punish prisoners, ensuring that the judicial system supervises and administers order within prisons, while emphasizing the importance that the law attaches to discipline in prisons.
The flogging is usually carried out on the buttocks of the prisoner, with minimal injury to other parts, and is intended to punish the prisoner while minimizing serious bodily injury.
By applying flogging to the buttocks, direct damage to vital organs of the body can be avoided and persistent pain and health effects on the prisoner can be minimized.
The whips used in the execution are all of the same size, ensuring that the execution of the flogging has a certain uniformity and standardization, so as to ensure the fairness and reasonableness of the punishment.
The whip should absorb enough water to enhance its flexibility and elasticity.
By soaking the whip, the breakage rate of the whip during the execution process can be effectively reduced.
The place where the execution took place was very spacious, with the ceiling hanging high overhead, creating a suffocating sense of oppression, and the floor was spotless, reflecting the faint light and giving off an icy sheen.
The whipping rack is made of solid wood, which is unusually heavy and sturdy, and the overall design is simple and unforgiving, without any superfluous decorations, and every prisoner must be punished under this rack, which makes people feel chilled.
Why caning is so frightening
The executioners received systematic and rigorous professional training, and all of them were skilled users of flogging.
This gives them a clear idea of how to make the person being punished feel the most intense pain while minimizing the actual harm.
Whether it is the identity of the whipper or the severity of the crime, it is not a factor for the executor, and every whip is an all-out effort, and there will be no softness.
By the time the punishment for flogging was determined and the prisoner was taken to the place of execution, the atmosphere was filled with seriousness and heaviness, and the scene was emptied, leaving only the prison officers and the necessary medical personnel.
The first whip went down, accompanied by a crisp sound, the sound of the whip swinging in the air and slamming into the prisoner's hips.
With this whip, the prisoner's buttocks immediately appeared unusually obvious whip marks, and the capillaries under the skin were violently impacted, and the bruises quickly appeared, forming a dark purple mark, which was visible to the naked eye.
This was followed by the second whip, which was no less powerful and accurate than the first, and when the whip fell again, the skin of the buttocks, which had been injured before, could not withstand such an impact, and soon the skin opened.
The surface of the skin was broken, revealing the underlying tissues, and the pain was excruciating, causing great pain to the prisoner.
The wounds of the first two lashes had already made the prisoner's buttocks very fragile, and this lash caused blood to flow down the curve of the buttocks, staining the prisoner's clothes and the table where the flogging was carried out, which was shocking.
For many Singaporeans, flogging represents an extreme form of corporal punishment that inflicts long-term physical pain and harm, compared to imprisonment, which means loss of liberty, at least does not directly result in physical harm.
As a result, some people prefer to go to jail to avoid the physical trauma of caning.
Secondly, the psychological impact of caning is also one of the reasons why people refuse to accept it, and accepting caning can bring long-term psychological trauma and pain to the offender, and even affect his future life, which has a very far-reaching impact.
What crimes are punishable by caning?
Of course, not all criminals are subject to caning.
In Singapore, caning is a common and harsh sentence, especially for serious crimes, which is seen as a stern warning to offenders.
Moreover, the execution of caning is subject to a rigorous legal process and will only be carried out after the court has decided and confirmed it through the appeal process.
For some minor offenses that do not cause much harm to society, other forms of punishment may be imposed, such as fines or imprisonment.
What is even more surprising is that Singapore's caning system does not specifically discriminate between local residents and foreigners, regardless of the nationality, race or status of the offender, as long as they break the law in Singapore, they will face the same punishment.
For foreigners, they may not know enough about Singapore's legal provisions due to differences in culture, language or other factors, and may inadvertently break the law.
However, regardless of whether the offender intentionally breaks the law or not, once they commit an offence on their own soil, they will be subject to the corresponding legal sanctions, including the possible punishment of caning.
At the same time, Singapore conducts rigorous screening and assessment of the physical condition of offenders when caning is carried out to ensure that only adult male offenders who are in good health are subject to this punishment.
Caning is not allowed if the offender has a health problem, such as heart disease, in order to avoid serious bodily harm to the offender while protecting his or her fundamental right to health.
The purpose of retaining caning in Singapore is not only to punish criminal acts, but more importantly, to achieve a deterrent and warning effect on society through the dual punishment of offenders, both physically and mentally.
This record of shame will stay with them for the rest of their lives, and the public form of caning punishment is also sending a clear message to society: criminal behavior will be severely punished and will not be tolerated.
This powerful deterrent effect helps to maintain social order and security, and protect the lives and property of citizens.
Resources:
"Singapore's Whipping of British Drug Dealers Causes Turmoil, Prisoner's Family: Is 20 Years in Prison Enough" Global Network 2020-08-21
Modern flogging: brutal torture in the cloak of the rule of law. NetEase [Quote date: 2017-02-1]