The news reports are saying that city state of Singapore will hang a 25-year-old Australian man, Van Nguyen for the crime of drug trafficking in the next wek or so.

Nguyen was caught carrying 400 grams of heroin through Singapore's Changi Airport. He was in transit from Cambodia to Australia, had no previous criminal convictions, was carrying the drugs as a last-ditch effort to pay his brother's debts, and has offered police all the help they require in cracking down on drug syndicates.

No deal, even when the Australian government intervenes and advocates clemency for Van Nguyen.

The media construction of this event in Australia is that Singapore, unlike a civilized Australia, is bad because it trashs human rights. We don't hang people in Australia we just incacerate them for being asylum seekers.

Bill Leak

I sense a whiff of hypocrisy in all of this.

Firstly, though Australians are unconcerned when the death penalty is applied to non-Australian citizens it is an act of barbarism when it is applied to Australians. Now, the death penalty is either right or wrong. It can't be right or wrong according to the citizenship of the person. There is a moral and political decision for Australia to take and, so far, we are trying to ignore it."

Secondly, are treatment of non-citizens borders on the barbaric. The risks that long-term or permanent residents run in failing to take up Australian citizenship are highlighted by this case. You can be rendered stateless by Australia. Even though someone like Robert Jovicic has lived in Australia almost all his life; his family is here, all his roots are here, he is seen as a non-citizen and an "alien".