KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — The ‘Save Vui Kong Campaign’ is appealing to the Singapore government and its president S.R. Nathan for clemency for Yong Vui Kong, 22, who was sentenced to death last year for drug trafficking in the island state.

The campaign is co-sponsored by the Civil Rights Committee of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram).

Yong, from Sabah, was convicted on Jan 7 last year for trafficking in 47gm of a controlled drug, diamorphine, a capital offence under the Singaporean Misuse of Drugs Act.

Last year, Yong filed a petition to the Singapore president for clemency but it was rejected on Dec 1 on the same year. 

Ngeow Chow Ying, the Save Vui Kong campaign coordinator, said Yong could be hanged anytime after Aug 26, if his plea for clemency was rejected. Unfortunately, his right to seek clemency under Singapore’s constitution had been compromised by statement of Singapore’s Law Minister, K.Shanmugan. 

She said before his clemency plea was officially filed, Shanmugan was quoted to have told the press on May 9, 2010: “Yong Vui Kong is young but if we say, we let you go, what’s the signal we’re sending? We’re sending a signal to all drug barons out there, just make sure you choose a victim who’s young or a mother of a young child and use them as the people to carry drugs into Singapore”.

“We understand Singapore, like Malaysia, has a strict policy against drug trafficking which carries a mandatory death penalty.

“However, given that the constitution allows clemency plea for persons sentenced to death means that no sentence of capital punishment is by default excluded from reconsideration for a second chance,” she said in a press conference held at Parliament lobby here today. 

Also present were members of the Dewan Negara, Senator Prof Dr Syed Husin Ali and and Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, Senator Datuk Mustafa Kamal Mohd Yusoff and Senator Mumtaz Md Nawi.    

Ngeow said, Yong’s case was a non-partisan issue therefore every Malaysian should support his clemency and now they were collecting signatures from the public including Malaysia’s members of parliament to give Yong a second chance before Aug 23 next month and it would be presented to Singapore President, S.R. Nathan to grant a pardon to Yong. — Bernama