Propaganda

After reading an Australian article regarding the hanging of Nguyen Tuong Van, i realised that there is propaganda everywhere. I should have known it. People who believe in something will try to convince others (their people) to believe the same thing too. They will only present the good side of themselves while denying that there are flaws in their thoughts too...
Everyone knows that Australia(ns) is(are) against corporate punishment(death sentence) so one can imagine the hoo- ha caused when an Australian is to be hanged in Singapore. I have always believed in corporate punishment because i believe that it is an effective deterrent for those who are considering committing crimes and i still do, but after looking at both sides of the story(sg & au), i wonder if there can be exceptions...
The last line of the article goes like this: He was sentenced to death despite cooperating with drug investigations by authorities in Singapore and Australia.
Propaganda? Definitely. Putting Singapore in a bad light but i cannot deny that it's a little pitiful of him, of his parents and family..
Regardless, i still support Singapore's decision not to respond to the pleas of the Australians in this case. This guy tried smuggling drugs! Although Singapore is not the final destination, but if we give way once, there'll be a second and third time. If other countries start asking us to release their citizens and we comply, won't it seem as if we are very soft and easily bullied? Won't we then have no authority over our own laws? Like what we say :入乡随俗. If you want to come to our country, you better comply with our rules. Even though they're westerners and may not necessarily know this phrase, they should at least have such knowledge.
Anyway i guess i can't blame them. Afterall they've been living in such a society for such a long time it'll be hard for them to accept the fact that other countries do not think exactly like them.. It's like asking someone to change overnight, which is impossible... Furthermore corporate punishment is not a popular policy, even in Singapore....