Michael Fays Conviction in Singapore :: essays research papers

In this article, a young American boy, Michael Fay, who lived in Singapore, was convicted of vandalism and was sentenced to a flogging. The author of this article, Mike Royko, was American, and was on Fay’s side, he thinks that a flogging is wrong. Royko defines what Fay did as â€Å"mischief†. Giving someone a rubber pencil when they ask to borrow a real pencil is mischief, spray painting, egging, switching license plates and tearing down street signs is vandalism, which is more serious than mischief. I think that Royko was trying to downplay what Fay did, to prove his point that flogging is much too harsh for vandals. President Clinton became involved in the case because as the President of the United States he has to protect his citizens, whether they are one mile away from him in the United States, or if they are on the other side of the world. He might not have wanted to intervene, he might not have cared at all about Michael Fay, but the public did, and it would not look good if he said he did not care. When President Clinton asked the governor of Singapore to ease up on the punishment, he told Clinton to mind his own business. The government does have the right to punish its citizens in the way they see fit. In a city as densely populated as Singapore, they cannot have people running around doing whatever they feel like, and then getting off with a small fine and some community service. Clinton could ask them, but they do not have to comply. Clinton was also on precarious territory, because there is a big trade industry between Singapore and the U.S., and losing that, would mean losing billions of dollars. Like most Americans, the author of this article strongly opposed the flogging, which is not surprising. It is not surprising because since he is an American, and because he is, he is used to the customs here, but also because Fay was an American just like Royko. They had something in common, and people like people who are like them. Even though that was practically the only thing he knew about Fay, it was something they shared. They had shared the rights and freedoms of being an American, while living there. If it had been someone from any other country, Mike Royko, would not have cared nearly as much.