“If it were really straightforward that death penalty means no crime, and no death penalty means high crime, then I for one would not hesitate to vote for the death penalty and to oppose those idealists who seek to oppose it,” declared Reform Party member Jeanette Chong Aruldoss.
She was speaking at the Reform Party rally ‘Rally with Reform’ on Saturday. Her topic was on the mandatory death penalty, which the Reform Party has taken a strong stance against.
“Why shoud I risk the welfare and safety of my family for the sake of a worthless criminal who should have known better?” she continued. “But is it really as simple as death penalty means no crime?”
According to Aruldoss, the Government has yet to provide any hard evidence that the mandatory death penalty is an effective deterrent to drug trafficking. In the absence of such evidence, the Reform Party’s stance is that it is not necessary to resort to using the MDP for drug trafficking.
“Surely no one would be party to taking away a person’s life on the strength of an unsupported hypothesis or personal belief,” she said.
She also said that other factors such as a well-organized police force and a comprehensive anti-drug education programme also contributed to the effective fight against such crimes.
Speaking to The Online Citizen later, Aruldoss said that she was using the issue of the death penalty as an example of a public policy or a law that’s been around for many years but needs to be re-examined as times have changed.
“People don’t have enough information. If you decide in the end to support the death penalty, or decide to be against it, what are our reasons?” she said.
Aruldoss also stated that laws have to reflect the values of a society.
“It’s true that it doesn’t affect Singaporeans and some of the people who are affected might not even be Singaporeans but what kind of society do we want to be?” she asked rhetorically. “Do we want to sacrifice ideals on the altar of pragmatism?”