Give Vui Kong another chance!

GIVE VUI KONG ANOTHER CHANCE!
Date: 1 August, Sunday
Time: 4pm to 6pm
Venue: Speakers’ Corner

Following the encouraging results of the campaign to save Yong Vui Kong’s life in Sabah this past weekend, we in Singapore also want to pledge our support. Therefore, we will be meeting at the Speakers’ Corner on the 1st of August (next Sunday) from 4pm – 6pm to show our support for Vui Kong, his family and everyone working ’round the clock to save his life. If you would like to show your support, please come along too!

Please refer to these blogs for more information on Yong Vui Kong and his ongoing case:
Save Vui Kong
Give Life 2nd Chance

Vui Kong is on the far right.

Yong Vui Kong is currently on death row, and has till August 26 to file his clemency appeal to the President. This is his last chance; if this appeal is rejected, he will be sent to the gallows.

Vui Kong is only 22 this year. He came from a poor family and was not well-educated. He fell in with gangs from a young age and made a mistake. However, he has learnt from his mistakes and has spent the past 3 years doing his best to repent and atone for them. He has turned to Buddhism, taught himself to read and write, and is learning English. He is trying hard to turn his life around and devote whatever time he has left to doing good.

To send a boy like him to the gallows would show a complete lack of compassion and concern for human rights. It would also be a horrible waste of a young life. Even if his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, he would still have the opportunity to turn over a new leaf and find ways to contribute to society. He could even reach out to many other youths in similar underprivileged circumstances and share his experiences, warning them away from making the same mistake he made.

Hanging him would not help solve the problem with drugs flowing into Singapore; drug barons would always be able to replace him with other mules. However, allowing him to live and spread the word and share the lessons he’s learnt, just might be a significant contribution towards fighting this problem. There is much more to gain from his living than his dying.

His siblings have been doing all they can to find ways to save him – both in Singapore and in Malaysia. His mother, suffering from mental depression, still does not know that her youngest and favourite son is on death row. No one has the heart to tell her.

This is not only about the cruelty and arbitrariness of the mandatory death penalty. It is also about saving a young life, a life full of potential and promise. (If Yong Vui Kong had been a Singaporean from middle class family like many of us, he would only have just completed his National Service.)

So please, we are only asking for a little bit of your time and support. A small gesture like this would go a long way towards the fight to save a life.

I’ll be at Speakers’ Corner on 1 August, Sunday, from 4pm – 6pm. I hope to see you there.