Have you signed?

The petition for Yong Vui Kong‘s life has crossed the 10,000 mark.

The campaign for his life officially kicked off last week in his hometown of Sandakan in Sabah, and the number of signatures has been climbing steadily, almost at a rate of 1000 a day. Vui Kong’s sister, Vui Fung, has been tireless in her pursuit of support and signatures for her brother. The support from Malaysia has been amazing.

On Sunday (1 August), TheOnlineCitizen and the Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign is holding an event at Speakers’ Corner from 4pm – 6pm, in the hopes that Singaporeans too would lend their support to this campaign for a boy’s life. You can find out more about the event at its Facebook page here. We will be collecting more signatures for the petition, continuing The Anti-Mandatory Death Penalty Photo Project, recording messages of support for Vui Kong as well as taking a group photograph.

I’ll be there, taking photos, collecting signatures, shooting video, anything and everything I can do. I hope to see you there. You don’t have to stay for the whole 2 hours, but please just come, sign the petition, take a photo, record a message, or all three.

But even if you can’t make the event, please, just take a minute of your time to sign the petition online. The link is below:

Give Yong Vui Kong a Second Chance to Help Singapore’s Anti-Drug Trafficking Policy

We are not asking for him to be absolved of all guilt. We are not asking for him to be acquitted. We are simply asking for a 22-year-old boy’s life to be spared. We are asking the President and the Cabinet to give him the opportunity to atone for his sins. Even if he was given a life sentence instead he could help spread the word, share his experience and warn other vulnerable youths like him away from gangs and drug traffickers. Alive, there are many ways he could contribute to society, even from behind bars. Dead, there will be nothing for anyone to gain.

We don’t know if all this campaigning, if all this petitioning, will be of any use. Ultimately the decision will fall to the President (or the Cabinet), and the voices of so many Singaporeans, Malaysians and other concerned citizens around the world could be overruled. Yes, it is true that at the end of the day, all this could even come to nothing.

But still there is hope. And as long as there is hope, there are over 10,000 people in Singapore, Malaysia and around the world who will keep calling for clemency and for compassion.

Will you join us?