A couple of months ago, one of my co-workers (at another office; I’ve never actually met him, but a lot of the people here in Tokyo have) got caught in Singapore International Airport with about 2.5 ounces of marijuana on him.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. He’s lived and worked there for over a year now, he’s got no excuse for not knowing how strict the laws there are. He freely admitted it was his, for personal use, and plead guilty. We just got a call from the Singapore office that his sentencing was today.
Sing is serious, in this regard. 8 years probably means 8 years, unless a lot of diplomatic force is used. Many a stupid Dutchmen has seen his sentence dropped after some pressure. Of course, not all nations are so lenient when it comes to stupidity of their citizens abroad. And rightly so, if you ask me.
I don’t know about a formal policy, but they’ve been known to commute sentences for “good behavior”. Nick Leeson, the “rogue trader” who lost over $1 billion and bankrupted Barings Bank, had his 6 1/2 year sentence commuted to 3 1/2. He, of course, was being treated for colon cancer, but I believe the Singapore government emphasize that it was good behavior, not the illness, that had earned the early release. Your co-worker will likely be much better off if someone on the outside continues to actively press his case.
Interesting… 8 years for marijuana possession; 6 1/2 years for a $1 billion trading fraud. Make your business and vacation travel plans accordingly, folks.
I’ve traveled between Singapore and Malaysia a number of times. The two routes I took were the train and also walking across the border (at the checkpoint, of course). Both sides have a big sign written in a few languages, one of which is English. That sign states very clearly that neither country plays soft with drug offenses and that there’s a mandatory death sentence for certain drug offenses. Last time I was there, there was also an “amnesty box” for the less stupid of the very stupid druggies to drop their drugs into the box before they got sniffed by the drug dogs.
The OP’s coworker is a flat out dumbass. He now has eight years to contemplate that other countries have other laws.
I agree what the guy did was staggeringly stupid. He’s been in and around Singapore long enough that he has no excuse for not knowing what would happen if he were caught, and that the Singapore authorities are serious enough that his chances of getting caught were very high. He’s 27 now, and will probably not be out until he’s 30 or 31 (if he behaves himself; 35 otherwise). That’s a major chunk out of what should be some of the most productive years of one’s professional and personal life.
Some extra info:
He’s kind of lucky he’s such a dumbass. I found out that he had actually been carrying 250 grams, but had been ripped off. Only 65 grams of his purchase was actual marijuana.
He was traveling with a German woman who had bought 350 grams (similarly cut, presumably) who was also arrested. No word on her sentence.
Our big bossman sent out an email to all the branches with the following points:
Surprise and sadness at the length of the sentence (he’d been expecting 4 years)
As of sentencing, the guy is fired.
He expects the rest of us not to be so stupid when we travel
Bossman and the Singapore chief are taking a 10% pay cut this month as a form of apology to the staff (fatherly responsibiilty and all that. It also covers most of the legal cost rather than taking it out of the company).
There are times I think, “that could have been me.” This isn’t one of those times. I feel bad for the guy, but in the same way that I feel bad for someone who drowns after going out in rough seas in too small a craft with no safety equipment. He was unlucky in that he was caught, but had he not made such bad decisions, luck would never have entered into it.
The customs form that everyone must fill out upon entering Singapore says in big red letters: “The penelty for drug trafficers in Singapore is death.” As everyone seems to agree, he damn well should have known better.
Should be OK except for the lashes. That’s evil. When it’s done properly (and they go soft on some foreigners, like that kid who vandalized cars).
Done properly, there’s blood all over the place after the 1st lash. You piss and shit yourself on the 2nd or 3rd, and pass out by the 4th. Subsequent lashes are administered a few weeks later when he’s recovered. They do loads of people one at a time on the same occasion, so they have to squat in the hall outside the gym, waiting and listening to other people getting it.
Abolished here in HK, but when they had it here the idea (as related by a prison officer who performed it) was “to break the skin on the 1st stroke, and hit the exact same spot with each subsequent stroke”. They used 2 officers to administer the punishments, taking it in turns so their arms don’t get tired.
Hell, I abstain from herbal soporifics any time I’m in a country with backwards policies towards them-- Even the US, where, as screwed up as the War on Some Drugs is, at least they don’t flay you alive. (There was that time I flew down to Las Vegas, forgetting that I’d dipped into the jam-jar of hash-oil that I’d had when I’d run out of boot-black. Don’t like to have scuffed shoes, and hey, it was plentiful. That little doggie loved me, I can tell you, and I sure didn’t need the extra scrutiny, considering I had a 1"x6" strip of blotter paper concealed in the spine of my copy of The Crying of Lot 49. With hindsight, I’ve learned to adjust my policy to meet the place.)
I have a friend who’s a teacher in Tokyo, and he won’t puff there, because they take it so seriously, much less in Singapore. Your co-worker tried to move a substantial quantity from Singapore to Tokyo? What, were they high?
Actually, he was going into Singapore from Australia.
Had he been caught in Japan with that amount, the sentence would probably be few months, suspended. At most, he’d do about 30 days in jail. In my case, as a non-Japanese, it would also include deportation, which would be a bigger disruption in my life right now than a month in the slammer.
The strongest drugs I do right now are alcohol and Robert A. Wilson novels.
