Singapore: The Caning Country

Beating with a 1.2-metre, 1.27cm thick rattan cane soaked in water to maximize its weight and make it more flexible. This  punishment is mandated not only by the Singaporean military and court system, but in secondary schools across the nation-state.


Caning is a legal punishment for all males under the age of 50, with a maximum of 24 strokes.  In 2007, 6,404 offenders were sentenced to caning.  Caning is performed on male members of the Singapore Armed Forces, again to a maximum of 24 strokes.   Caning is also used to punish boys in Singaporean schools. In May of 2004, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Acting Minister for Education, encouraged schools to

“punish boys by caning for such offences as fighting, smoking, cheating, gangsterism, disrespect or vandalism.”

Students can receive up to 6 strokes.  According to a survey by The Straits Times, 20 per cent of parents in Singapore use caning for punishment.

Read the whole thing here, and watch the disturbing video below.

Pakistani Senate condemns LGBT function at US embassy

ISLAMABAD - The Senate has severely condemned the hosting of a gay pride ceremony at the US embassy in Pakistan, and has sent the matter to the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs for discussion.

The Committee will determine whether any kind of action could be initiated against the organisers of the LGBT function. One lawmaker from every parliamentary party will sit in the committee.

World headlines were made last month when US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Richard Hoagland and members of Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFFA) hosted the first ever LGBT Pride Celebration at the US Embassy in Islamabad on June 26, at which the Chargé d’Affaires addressed the Pakistani LGBT community, acknowledging their struggle for rights.  He said:

“I want to be clear. The US embassy is here to support you and stand by your side every step of the way.”

Pakistan has no laws prohibiting discrimination or harassment on the basis of real or perceived sexual orientation, and no legal recognition of same-sex relationships.  The Pakistan Penal Code of 1860, originally developed under British rule, punishes acts of "sodomy" with imprisonment. Under Articles 377 and 496,

"Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than two years nor more than ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offense described in this section . . . Whoever, dishonestly or with a fraudulent intention, goes through the ceremony of being married, knowing that he is not thereby lawfully married, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall be liable to fine."

Worse, under Islamic laws, the maximum punishment for sodomy is death.  LGBTs are subject to police blackmail, harassment, fines and threats of imprisonment. 

In condemning the event at the embassy, lawmakers said that homosexuality is against the basic principles of Islam and the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and hence could not be allowed.