Flogging an idea
There has been a great deal of debate over whether the government should introduce harsher penalties — including flogging — for those convicted of drunk driving, sexual assault, harming children and other serious offenses.
I would suggest that it would be preferable to reduce the death penalty to flogging, rather than elevate a lesser penalty to flogging.
When discussing the question of flogging, many people would immediately think of Singapore and the 1993 case of US national Michael Fay.
Fay, who was 18 years old at the time and an expatriate student who had moved to Singapore with his parents, was charged with theft on suspicion of vandalizing cars, breaking their windows and daubing them with graffiti.
In addition to being fined, Fay was sentenced to six strokes of the cane.
Following an appeal for clemency by then-US president Bill Clinton, the flogging was reduced to four strokes, but not revoked.
The case brought international attention and notoriety to Singapore’s punishment by flogging.
However, there is a cultural element to the Singaporean public’s support for flogging. Many Singaporean parents use a cane to punish their children, since administering corporal punishment to minors is not forbidden under Singaporean law. Taiwanese law prohibits this.
There is also a historical basis. Singapore’s system of flogging has its origins in British criminal law, which used to administer flogging for crimes, including theft and sexual assault, as a way to deter others from committing similar offenses.
Under Singaporean law, more than 40 criminal offenses are punishable by flogging. These include kidnapping, violent robbery, use of illegal narcotics, destruction of public property and sexual assault.
Perhaps there is not wide support within Taiwan’s government to introduce flogging as a punishment, but it is the first priority of any government to ensure that its citizens feel safe.
Surely that is not too much to ask.
Chiu Shih-chang
Taipei
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