By Savithri Rodrigo
Singapore (Commonwealth Union)_The Singaporean Government’s invitation to British entrepreneur and the founder of Virgin Group Sir Richard Branson to participate in a live television debate on the death penalty has been declined by the billionaire. The 72-year-old entrepreneur whose net worth was estimated by Forbes at USD 3.7 billion has been an incessant campaigner against capital punishment.
In April this year, he criticized Singapore’s decision to execute 33-year-old Nagaenthran Dharmalingam for drug trafficking. Calling Singapore’s meting out of capital punishment a relentless machinery of death, he also said the death penalty imposed on Dharmalingam was heartbreaking.
Just last month, he was even more scathing stating that Singapore’s focus on executing low-level drug traffickers who are mostly from the poor or disadvantaged minorities was not the way to go. Instead, it should provide clear evidence on how these executions impact crime, public safety and drug use.
The Singaporean government’s rationale for inviting Branson was to discuss its approach to drugs and capital punishment. A meeting had been set with Minister of Home Affairs K Shanmugam, with the government urging Branson to use the debate as a means to demonstrate to Singaporeans on why and how Singapore should remove the laws on capital punishment. However, it also mentioned that these laws have kept the population safe from drug abuse which has become a global scourge.
Branson was not impressed however and instead explained that with personalities headlining debates, the issues at hand tend to become more personality-oriented and less about the complexities of capital punishment. His rationale was that the seriousness of the subject will transform into a spectacle. Instead, the debate should feature the Singaporeans who live and work within the system, which would be of much more value.
Activists themselves echoed Branson’s sentiments, calling the debate more of a publicity stunt which will not even scratch the surface for a meaningful solution to a complex issue that involves people’s lives.
