THE father of a Hong Kong drug trafficker to be hanged in Singapore next Friday says he will leave the fate of his son to God.
The 70-year-old father of Daniel Chan Chi-pun, who helped secure a surprise reprieve for his 38-year-old son on the eve of his November 25 execution, said yesterday: 'I accept it is their law to hang drug traffickers. But it is worth it if you can kill a tiger and not just a fly.
'My son doesn't take drugs. He is not a professional drug trafficker. He was only taken advantage of by someone behind the scenes.
'He had given the authorities the name of a man behind the scenes, the one who is really responsible, but nothing happened.' Chan's defence counsel Spencer Gwee has said Chan was duped into trafficking drugs by a colleague who assured him a trip to Singapore would earn him money for his blind son, aged six.
'We did everything for him last time to secure a reprieve. I don't know what else can be done to save him this time,' said his father.
Mr Gwee said: 'Legally, all avenues have been exhausted. We have moved Heaven and Hell.' A British High Commission official in Singapore, Colin Lane, visited Chan at Changi prison last week before the decision to hang him was known. 'He was quiet,' Mr Lane said. 'He made no request.' Chan's wife, son and father are making arrangements for a final visit.
