Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have been executed by the Indonesian firing squad for drug smuggling this morning. Australians are outraged and both the TVs and radios have broadcasted people's reactions to the incident. The Prime Minister Tony Abbot even withdraws the Australian ambassador from Indonesia. This shows how serious the situation is.
Most people are of the opinion that the duo should be given opportunity to reform through reflections and transform themselves into productive human beings that could contribute to the society in a positive way. And by executing them, the only chance for them to do any good in the future has been snatched away.
However, there is the other side of the coin where people who stand by the Indonesian side feel that no one is above the law and has to be punished when law is broken. If the Indonesian government were to have exception and let the duo go this time, then they could never be able to uphold their legal institution in the future. People would then use this case as a precedent for not abiding the law. Most people are aware of the death sentence in most Asian countries and if they still carry out criminal activities despite their awareness of the law, then they should be punished. Someone even commented on Facebook that if they choose to live by the sword then they should die by the sword.
Having said that, I do not believe that death sentence would do any good to both of them or improve the drug smuggling situation in general any better from now on. Buddhists don't believe in killing any living beings, this is just not our way. Punishment does not solve the problem. And in the case of the Australian duo, it just goes to show that by executing the both of them, the problem is simply being swept under the carpet. It is like saying we don't even want to try to make you a better person. In fact it is a very lazy approach to simply kill another human being and not trying to guide them towards a proper path.
Killing another person does not improve the situation. It is like the story that I'm going to tell now. One day there was a man taking an evening stroll along a beautiful river bank. He felt so relaxed as the gentle breeze kissed his cheek. He was almost walking in a meditative state and he felt so peaceful until he heard someone screamed for help. He took a look around and realized that the noise was coming from the river itself. He quickly went closer to check it out and saw someone was drowning in the river. Without any hesitation he jumped into the river and rescue the poor man. As soon as he dragged the man onto the river bank, he heard another scream coming from river beyond. He was surprised to see another person was drowning in the river. Again he jumped into the river to rescue the second person. And as soon as they were both safe on land, guess what, another scream coming from upriver. The same situation went on for hours until there was now a dozen of people being rescued by this man. He was tired and had no energy left when yet another scream was heard before he could even catch his breath. He realized that something strange was going on and he ran upriver to see where all these bodies came from. He was shocked to see that there was actually someone kept throwing people off the river!
The above story tells us that in order to solve the problem, we should go upriver and catch the culprit who has been throwing people off the river, that is to tackle the root cause of the problem. By executing people who smuggle drugs is like trying to save the endless people that is drowning in the river without getting rid of the source.
Killing another person does not improve the situation. It is like the story that I'm going to tell now. One day there was a man taking an evening stroll along a beautiful river bank. He felt so relaxed as the gentle breeze kissed his cheek. He was almost walking in a meditative state and he felt so peaceful until he heard someone screamed for help. He took a look around and realized that the noise was coming from the river itself. He quickly went closer to check it out and saw someone was drowning in the river. Without any hesitation he jumped into the river and rescue the poor man. As soon as he dragged the man onto the river bank, he heard another scream coming from river beyond. He was surprised to see another person was drowning in the river. Again he jumped into the river to rescue the second person. And as soon as they were both safe on land, guess what, another scream coming from upriver. The same situation went on for hours until there was now a dozen of people being rescued by this man. He was tired and had no energy left when yet another scream was heard before he could even catch his breath. He realized that something strange was going on and he ran upriver to see where all these bodies came from. He was shocked to see that there was actually someone kept throwing people off the river!
The above story tells us that in order to solve the problem, we should go upriver and catch the culprit who has been throwing people off the river, that is to tackle the root cause of the problem. By executing people who smuggle drugs is like trying to save the endless people that is drowning in the river without getting rid of the source.
The main source of the drug smuggling business is still not tackled by executing two individuals who are probably just performing their jobs instructed by the main culprit in the background. It is probably because of the breakdown of society that contributes to so many people want to buy drugs in the first place. The social problems need to be addressed first and foremost through education and raising the living standard of the population in general. These are just some of the thing the government should be focusing on instead of pointing guns at people.
No comments:
Post a Comment