Word: fayed
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Just as Nancy and Tonya have left our television screens, it appears that our beloved mass media has found another feast to proffer restless Americans. These days, the name of Michael Fay, the American teen vandal who will soon be caned in Singapore, constantly comes up on talk shows...
...year-old from Ohio is now famous--or infamous, as the case may be--for his acts of vandalism. While egg-tossing and destruction of property might be common ways for restless American teenagers to rid themselves of excess energy, it's no laughing matter in Singapore. Michael Fay has been sentenced by the Singapore courts to four months in prison, a $2,300 fine, and six lashes with a half-inch-thick rattan cane...
...this corporal punishment. The Singapore Embassy told the Associated Press that in the last several weeks it has received more than 100 letters and 200 phone calls, the majority supporting the flogging. In a society where vandalism is a daily occurrence and public property is constantly defaced by grafitti, Fay's punishment seems an easy solution to a vexing problem. As one man told reporter Karen De Witt of The New York Times, "If you've ever had your antenna ripped off your car, you can sympathize with the Government of Singapore...
There's no denying that Michael Fay committed a crime. This was no childish prank, and despite protestations that Fay is just a "boy", 18 years old is more than old enough to know better. Yet many Americans, in their haste to condemn Fay and in their own frustration at the escalating rates of crime in our own nation, have overlooked the horrific nature of the Singapore government's punishment...
...issue here is not whether or not Michael Fay should be punished, or whether or not he should be exempt from the judgment of the Singapore court because he is an American citizen. The issue is why we as a nation are so willing to accept a means of punishment that falls under the definition of torture. Michael Fay may rightly deserve four months in prison. He may rightly deserve to pay a $2,000 fine. Yet it's not being "soft" to protest against his caning, a punishment that allows the government of Singapore to continue torturing its citizens...