Singapore doesn’t need Richard Branson or China’s opium narrative in death penalty debate

Singapore invited the UK billionaire to debate its home affairs and law minister after he criticised the city state’s drug policy and death penalty
The home affairs ministry also said Britain should not lecture Asia on drugs as it had forced the Chinese to accept opium imports in the 19th century

Maria Siow

Published: 8:00am, 28 Oct 2022

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Singapore’s unrelenting stance on the death penalty has attracted strong criticism both domestically and abroad, yet the government has somehow curiously singled out British billionaire Richard Branson by suggesting he join its home affairs and law minister K Shanmugam in a live televised debate.

It extended the invitation to the Virgin Atlantic founder last week after his blog post stated that “Singapore still finds itself on the wrong side of history” by executing criminals, especially drug offenders.

Branson highlighted the April execution of convicted Malaysian drug trafficker Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, which attracted international backlash over concerns about his intellectual capacity. Such hangings are “dark stains on the country’s reputation in the world”, he said.

Singapore has maintained Nagaenthran “knew what he was doing”, “was not intellectually disabled”, and that he was “accorded full due process under the law”.

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Pushback against death penalty in Singapore for intellectually-disabled man

Branson is a well-known entrepreneur but he is far from being Singapore’s first critic or an authority on drug policies. So why should officials take interest in his views – to the point of offering to pay the wealthy man’s “flight to and accommodation in Singapore”?

While Branson is a commissioner with the Global Commission on Drug Policy, an organisation advocating for reforms in drug policy around the world, many would not have noticed his comments if not for the Singapore government’s invitation.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has said it does not accept Branson or others in the West “imposing their values on other societies”. But critics of the death penalty policy are not just located in the West; they also include those from the region, including Singapore.

If the Singapore government is keen on a debate, it should consider speaking to local groups and activists first, including those representing death row prisoners.

The ministry says Branson may use the live televised platform “to demonstrate to Singaporeans the error of our ways”, but the debate is unlikely to further the conversation beyond the known and well-articulated positions of both sides.

Besides, if it’s a large audience he seeks, the billionaire is surely able to access mass platforms without Singapore’s help.

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Meanwhile, the home affairs ministry has also said it does not believe that Britain, which had “prosecuted two wars in China in the 19th century to force the Chinese to accept opium imports” has “any moral right to lecture Asians on drugs”.

Even though Singapore’s population is predominantly ethnic Chinese, I struggle to see why the city state has to peddle China’s narrative on the opium wars and their devastating effects.

The ministry has sufficiently made its point by saying in its statement that across England and Wales, more than 4,850 drug-related deaths were recorded in 2021, the highest number since records began in 1993, amid a rise in deaths of people using opiates and cocaine.

It also added that the total annual cost of drug misuse in the UK in 2014 was around £15.4 billion (US$17.8 billion).

When current realities speak for themselves, there is no need to resort to historical guilt.