Dear Editor

I was Very amazed to see Presi dent Clinton telling publicly that the punishment to the American youth guilty of breaking the laws in Singapore was severe. How could he ignore the incidence of ghastly crimes in his own country which in the opinion of over whelming and right thinking people in this country is directly related to Lenient and inadequate punishment in quality and quantity of the crimes committed

Lessons in life should be learned with open mind from all quarters and not limited to indigenous sources because of false pride. In fact it is high time U.S.A. copy Singapore in this direction and says thousands of innocent lives of men women and children which the soaring crime rate claims as victims. Tam glad that President Clinton took so deep an interest in getting: the Gun Control Bill through the Congress. Guns are the True Sib ling of crime. Presidents next logical step should be a Bill to curb crime in the country by matching the punishment to the crime including therein caning. Caning has proved very successful in reducing all types of crime in other countries; why not introduce this punishment in this country. This country has the distinction of leading the World in so many fields of human evolution and values of life that it has now become imperative to introduce a strong deterrent to crime as number one priority.

It believed the media has exaggerated the physical pain and suffering after caning disproportionately. No doubt caning is very painful but not disabling beyond a day or two contrary to what papers made out. This i know from personal observation as I regularly attended caning of criminals and their aftercare during my tenure as Medical Officer in East Africa in the 40s.

Let us be truthful forthright and daring to accept our failure to deal with crime in our country effectively stop criticizing other countries which have solved their problems of crime successfully and tackle every problem to match the needs of the time.

  1. S. Sandhu M.D.

Fresno CA

Article extracted from this publication >> May 13, 1994