Jackie Chan on the death penalty for drug traffickers
When superstar Jackie Chan spoke with local media at an event at Nanyang Polytechnic on Thursday (May 7), he was asked if he supports the death penalty for drug trafficking.
Chan said in Mandarin: “I agree with the death penalty when it comes to certain things.
“When people deal drugs, they are hurting thousands and thousands of young children.
"I think this kind of people are useless and they should get the right punishment.”
However, he added: “Whether we should impose the death penalty, that I don’t know. I am not a judge.”
Chan was unveiled as Singapore's celebrity anti-drug ambassador at the event, where an anti-drug mobile game app developed by a group of NYP students was also launched.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli, the Second Minister for Home Affairs, who was also at the event, said that he and the Central Narcotics Bureau are concerned with the growing number of young drug abusers over the years.
“Over the last 10 years, the number of arrested drug abusers below the age of 20 has increased by more than 10 per cent per annum,” he said.
“Most youth abusers abuse methamphetamine (or Ice), cannabis or new psychoactive substances (or NPS). They are willing to experiment with these drugs because they think that it is not addictive and less harmful than ‘traditional’ drugs like heroin.”
He said these myths have arisen because of wrong “facts” put out on social media.
He added that these misperceptions are dangerous as such drugs are not only addictive, but they can also damage the brain, liver, kidney and neurological functions.
On getting Chan to be Singapore’s first celebrity anti-drug ambassador, Mr Masagos said: “Despite his very busy work schedule, Jackie devotes a tremendous amount of time and effort to philanthropic causes. When I first met him and asked him to lend his support to Singapore’s anti-drug efforts, he agreed without any hesitation.”
Chan said that when he was approached by the Singapore Government to be its anti-drug ambassador, his response was: “When?”
He said: “I have a lot of affinity with Singapore. I like a systematic way of doing things and I like how Singapore is very organised and follows the law strictly.
“I am usually very, very busy, but I flew here just for this. I love Singapore and I am happy to be given the chance to serve the people here.”
Read the full report in The New Paper on May 8.
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