Was Singapore’s flogging of a Briton guilty of drug offences justice or torture?

I AM amazed at the outcry over the 20-year sentence and flogging of a British citizen living in Singapore (Mail). Ye Ming Yuen, 31, was convicted of two counts of repeat drug trafficking. Living in Singapore since 2007, he would have been fully aware of the country’s zero-tolerance laws. In comparison, the West has indulged the use of drugs.

C. JACOBS, Aldenham, Herts.

THOSE who live, work and visit Singapore are very aware of the laws of that country, particularly where drugs are concerned. With a drugs problem in Britain that causes untold misery to thousands of people, it’s time we took a tougher stance.

SID ANNING, Rochester, Kent.

I CAN’T believe the Foreign Office thinks Singapore is wrong for inflicting corporal punishment on a convicted drug dealer. Rather than condemn, we should be following their example. Corporal punishment would

be an appropriate punishment for drug dealers, rapists and a host of other violent offenders.

MIKE LAUGHTON, Exton, Rutland.

THE Government is sending out mixed messages by saying it wants an answer to our drug problem and then protesting when a British man is caned in Singapore for such offences.

J. M. HURRELL, Ashford, Kent.

THIS country should take a leaf out of Singapore’s book and bring back corporal punishment. That would have wiped the smiles off the faces of the killers of PC Andrew Harper.

J. W. MORTIMER, Brackley, Northants.

TRAFFICKING or taking drugs in Singapore is a risky business. Ye Ming Yuen got caught and is paying the price. But with harsh justice for some comes great benefits for the majority of lawabiding citizens. Singapore is one of the safest cities in the world and countries the world over would like to emulate its success.

Name and address supplied.

OUR politicians all spout the same nonsense: ‘Lessons will be learned … We will not tolerate such actions … The full force of the law will come down on them.’ Tell that to PC Andrew Harper’s widow.

Tell that to Harry Dunn’s parents. Tell that to thousands of other victims of crime. The message from Singapore is simple: ‘Don’t come to our country and break the rules or you will suffer the consequences.’

P. MACKINTOSH, Darlington, Co. Durham.

AS A young PC in 1959, while I was escorting a career burglar to Gloucester prison, he told me that he had been arrested once in the Isle of Man and been birched. He admitted he would never set foot there again, which proves corporal punishment is a deterrent.

MIKE DAVIES, Nuneaton, Warks.