Selangor Journal
Sir Richard Branson stands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ahead of Virgin Galactic (SPCE) trading in New York, the United States, on October 28, 2019. — Picture by REUTERS

Richard Branson declines debate with Shanmugam on Singapore’s stand on drugs, death penalty

SINGAPORE, Oct 31 — British billionaire Sir Richard Branson has declined Singapore’s invitation to come to the republic for a live television debate with Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on the death penalty in the island republic.

“I have decided to decline this invitation. Here is why: a television debate — limited in time and scope, always at risk of prioritising personalities over issues — cannot do the complexity of the death penalty any service,” he said in his blog post Monday.

“It reduces nuanced discourse to soundbites, turns a serious debate into a spectacle,” added the Virgin Group founder.

The other reason for his decision is that ‘this conversation needs local voices.’

On October 22, Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry (MHA) extended the invitation to Branson as part of a response to Branson’s blog post on October 10 titled ‘World Day Against the Death Penalty: What is the matter with Singapore?’.

The ministry said Branson ‘may use this platform to demonstrate to Singaporeans the error of our ways and why Singapore should do away with laws that have kept our population safe from the global scourge of drug abuse.’

Among others, MHA responded to Branson’s claim that a Malaysian, D. Nagaenthran, had a ‘well-documented intellectual disability’, and was hung despite that.

“We have clarified on several occasions that this is untrue,” said MHA.

— Bernama

 

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