SINGAPORE. 96% OF SINGAPOREANS BACK THE DEATH PENALTY

a survey of 425 Singaporeans and permanent residents, aged 20 and older, showed that 96 per cent supported the death penalty. Most also wanted it to remain mandatory for the crimes of murder, drug trafficking, the use of firearms, acts of treason and kidnapping.
More than two-thirds wanted the death penalty introduced as the maximum sentence for those who planned or carry out terrorist attacks.
Almost three quarters of those polled said Singapore should stand its ground and not review its stand even if more countries abolished the death penalty.
Younger people were more open to a review if circumstances changed, according to the poll conducted by the marketing planning and development department of Singapore Press Holdings.
About half of those aged 20 to 29 wanted a review if more people in Singapore opposed the death penalty, compared to one third of people in their forties and one quarter among those aged 50 and over.
If more countries decided to abolish capital punishment, 44 per cent of people in their 20s thought Singapore should review its stand but only 22 per cent of people older than 40 were of the same opinion.
Sinapan Samydorai, president of civil rights group Think Centre, put the overwhelming support for the death penalty to an 'overall lack of human rights understanding'. 'People think if you kill one to protect many, it then becomes justifiable without considering whether killing the person is morally right or wrong.'