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Michael Peter Fay (born May 30, 1975) is an American who was caned in Singapore on May 5, 1994 for theft and vandalism despite pleas from the United States government and press for clemency.
Life prior to caning
Michael Fay was born on May 30, 1975 in St. Louis, Missouri. His father, George Fay, was the son of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Michael's mother, Randy, divorced his father when he was eight. In his childhood, Michael was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder a fact that his lawyer would later claim made Fay not responsible for his actions.
Although Michael mostly lived with his father after the divorce, he later moved to Singapore where his mother and step-father Marco Chan lived. Michael was enrolled in the Singapore American School.
Theft and vandalism
Between September and October of 1993, several expensive cars in Singapore were found pelted with eggs and spray-painted. The police eventually arrested a 16-year-old suspect, Shiu Chi Ho, from Hong Kong. After questioning Shiu, the police had several expatriate students from Singapore American School, including Michael Fay, questioned and later charged with vandalism. Fay pled guilty for vandalizing the cars in addition to stealing road signs. Under the 1966 Vandalism Act, which was originally passed to curb the spread of communist graffiti in Singapore, he was sentenced to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 Singapore dollars (States dollar|US$" target="_blank" >*2,233 or £1,450), and six lashes of the cane. Shiu, who pled "not guilty," was eventually sentenced to eight months in prison and twelve strokes of the cane.
Fay's lawyers appealed, arguing that the Vandalism Act provides caning only for indelible forms of graffiti vandalism and that the spray-painted cars were cheaply restored to their original condition. Although the appeal failed, the Singaporean government reduced Fay's caning from six to four strokes. Fay was caned on May 5, 1994.
Response from the United States
The official position of the United States executive administration was that while it recognized Singapore's right to try and punish Fay with due process of law, it deemed the punishment of caning to be excessive for a teenager committing a non-violent crime. The United States embassy in Singapore pointed out that the graffiti damage that Fay made on the cars was not permanent, but caning would leave Fay with physical as well as long-term emotional scars.
U.S. President Bill Clinton called the punishment prescribed by Singapore as extreme and mistaken, continuing to pressure the Singaporean government to grant Fay clemency from caning. Two dozen U.S. senators signed a letter to the Singaporean government also appealing for clemency. After Fay's punishment was executed, the United States Trade Representative said that he would try to prevent the World Trade Organization's first ministerial meeting from taking place in Singapore.
The United States media sensationalized and saturated its coverage of Michael Fay. The New York Times had several editorials and op-eds that condemned the punishment and called the American public to flood the Singaporean embassy with protests. Newsday wrote about a person who claimed to have witnessed a graphic public caning event in Singapore, despite the fact that Singapore does not provide public canings. Some commentaries treated the Michael Fay affair as a clash of civilizations between the so-called Asian values and concept of human rights versus the so-called Western values and concept of human rights.
United States public opposition of the caning was uncertain as opinion polls produced by different news organizations contradicted each other. Nevertheless, a significant number of vocal Americans were in favor of the caning, reasoning that Singapore had a right to use corporal punishment if it chooses, or that their own country did not mete out severe enough punishment to criminals.
The Singaporean response
The Singaporean government did not appreciate the U.S. government interfering with the way Singapore carried out punishments within the due process of law.
If the United States viewed caning of juveniles as a human rights issue, they felt, then honorably it should actively try to stop the caning of other juvenile offenders in Singapore other than Michael Fay. The Singaporean public also felt that compared to the seemingly lax penal system in the United States, their harsh penal system made their country very safe.
It was additionally argued that Singapore, as a sovereign state, was not obliged in any way to base its actions on the will of the American public or government. As for the U.S. Trade Representative saying that he would stop the World Trade Organization’s meeting from taking place in Singapore, some questioned the relation between judiciary proceedings and trade. The American public and media criticized Singapore and even called for attacks on the Singaporean embassy, leading some to believe that the United States did not respect the Singaporean court and its laws.
The Singaporean press also saturated its coverage about Michael Fay. Initial news about the arrest of the expatriate vandals made front page, to the extent that other more serious crimes received much less coverage on Singaporean newspapers.
Aftermath
Fay returned to the United States to live with his father. He did several television interviews and there was even talk of a book or movie deal which did not materialize. In 1994, Fay suffered burns to his hands and face after a butane incident. He was subsequently admitted to a rehabilitation program for butane abuse. Later in 1998, Fay was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia, a charge that he confessed.
"Weird Al" Yankovic described Fay's caning in the lyrics of "Headline News", a 1994 song parodying "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies.
The incident was spoofed in a 1995 episode of The Simpsons, "Bart vs. Australia", in which Bart is indicted by Australia for fraud and must be punished by being booted in the butt.
In 1995, the Professional Wrestling Promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling had a "Singapore Caning Match" involving The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer lost and got caned by Sandman after the match. Since then, the Singapore Cane has been one of the most popular Professional Wrestling weapons.
See also
References
- Latif, Asad (1994). The Flogging of Singapore: The Michael Fay Affair. Singapore: Times Books International. ISBN 981-204-530-9. See also corpun.com's review of this book.
- Baratham, Gopal (1994). The Caning of Michael Fay. Singapore: KRP Publication. ISBN 981-00-5747-4. See also corpun.com's review of this book.
- Reyes, Alejandro (May 25, 1994). Rough Justice: A Caning in Singapore Stirs Up a Fierce Debate About Crime And Punishment. Asiaweek, p. 34.
- The Asiaweek Newsmap (April 27, 1994). Asiaweek.
External links
- The Singapore Government's response to the American Embassy's statement, 1 April 1994
- Betahat blog discusses Smiley's "Singapore Soul," a song inspired by Michael Fay. With download.
"Michael P. Fay"