Caning of Michael Fay

In 1994, the District Court in Singapore sentenced an American teenager, Michael Peter Fay,[1] to be lashed six times with a cane for violating the Vandalism Act. This caused a temporary strain in relations between Singapore and the United States.[2]

Fay was arrested for stealing road signs and vandalising 18 cars over a ten-day period in September 1993. He pled guilty, but later said that he was advised that such a plea would preclude caning, his confession was false, he had never vandalized any cars and that the only crime he committed was stealing road signs. Although caning is not an uncommon court sentence in Singapore, Fay's sentence garnered controversy and was widely covered in the media in the United States, as it was believed to be the first judicial corporal punishment involving an American citizen.[3] The number of cane strokes in Fay's sentence was ultimately reduced from six to four after United States officials requested leniency. The sentence was carried out on 5 May 1994.

Background

Fay was born on 30 May 1975. Fay's parents divorced when he was aged eight.[4] He grew up in the United States, attending a boarding school near Pittsburgh before moving to Kettering, Ohio with his father in 1991.[5] In 1992, he moved to Singapore to live with his mother and stepfather in the Regency Park neighborhood, where he was enrolled in the Singapore American School.[6][4] In summer 1993, Fay opted to work as a waiter at the Hard Rock Café rather than returning to the United States for the school holidays.[4]

Incident

Theft and vandalism in Singapore

In September 1993, 67 cars were vandalised in various neighbourhoods of Singapore. The damage included spray painting and egging and at least one had its windshield smashed.[2][7]

On 6 October, the Singapore Police Force arrested two teenagers who were driving a car similar to one that witnesses had described as being involved in the vandalism. During questioning, the two gave seven names, all male students from the Singapore American School and ISS International School, whom police tracked down and raided. They found about 41 stolen items, including a telephone booth and road signs.[7] Fay was one of these students.[2][8]

Fay was arrested on 6 October.[4] He later stated that he had been assaulted, intimidated and threatened during police interrogation.[9][2]

Sentencing

Fay pled guilty at trial. Under the 1966 Vandalism Act, originally passed to curb the spread of political graffiti and which specifically penalized vandalism of government property,[6] Fay was sentenced on 3 March 1994, to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 (at the time equivalent to US$2,230 or £1,450), and six strokes of the cane.[10][11] Another student who pleaded not guilty was sentenced to eight months in prison and 12 strokes of the cane.[12]

On 20 April 1994, Fay made an appeal for clemency, with his lawyer, Dominic Nagulendran, arguing that the Vandalism Act provided caning only for indelible forms of graffiti vandalism and that the damaged cars had been cheaply restored to their original condition.[13][8] Fay maintained that he had been advised his guilty plea would preclude caning and that his confession was false, that he never vandalised any cars, and that the only crime he committed was stealing signs.[14] The Singapore government stood its ground and did not grant clemency to Fay.[3] Nevertheless, on 4 May, President of Singapore Ong Teng Cheong reduced the severity of both sentences out of consideration for President Bill Clinton as it valued the good historical relations between the two countries.[15][16]

Fay was caned on 5 May 1994, at the Queenstown Remand Centre.[17][18] Before and after the caning, Fay was administered Valium for "acute distress".[19] The sentence saw him stripped naked and strapped to a trestle with a protective covering placed over his kidneys and spine, with his buttocks being caned four times using a moistened 13mm-thick rattan rod. Fay estimated the caning lasted around one minute. After the final stroke, Fay shook hands with the caner and walked to his cell unaided.[9][4][20] Following the caning, the Singapore Prison Service released a statement saying that Fay "was examined by a prison doctor after the caning and found to be in satisfactory condition".[16]

Response

Media and public reactions

Following Fay's sentence, the case received coverage by the American, Singaporean and international media.[21]

Some US news outlets launched scathing attacks on Singapore's judicial system for what they considered an "archaic punishment", while others turned the issue into one of Singapore asserting "Asian values" towards "western decadence".[22] The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times ran editorials and op-eds condemning the punishment.[23] USA Today reported that the caning involved "bits of flesh flying with each stroke."[24]

However, Singapore also found supporters among the foreign media and the US public. For example, Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko reported that he had been sent a large number of letters, nearly all of which supported the punishment.[25][26] A Los Angeles Times poll found that Americans were evenly divided (49% approved, 48% disapproved) as to the appropriateness of the punishment, but would have only been 36% in favor had the sentence been handed down inside the US.[27]

From the United States government

The official position of the Clinton administration was that although it recognized Singapore's right to punish Fay within the due process of law, the punishment of caning was "excessive" for a teenager who committed a non-violent crime.

The United States Embassy in Singapore claimed that, while the graffiti and physical damage to the cars was not permanent, caning could leave Fay with permanent physical scars.[6][28]

Clinton also called Fay's punishment "extreme" and "mistaken", as well as pressuring the Singapore government to grant Fay clemency from caning. Two dozen United States senators signed a letter to the Singapore government also appealing for clemency.[29]

Aftermath

Fay served two months and 21 days of his four-month prison sentence at Queenstown Remand Prison before being released early for good behavior on 21 June 1994.[30] He returned to the United States to live with his father.[31] He gave several television interviews, including one with his American lawyer on CNN with Larry King on 29 June 1994, in which he admitted taking road signs but denied vandalising cars.[32] While he did not detail his experience, he said that he was "ill-treated" at times during questioning, but had shaken hands with the caning operative after his four strokes had been administered and the prison guards when he was released.[4][20] He stated that the caning had left him with scars on both buttocks.[33] He was invited to spend the summer of 1994 on a kibbutz in Israel.[19]

Several months after returning to the United States, Fay suffered burns to his hands and face after a butane incident.[34][35][36] He was subsequently admitted to the Hazelden rehabilitation program for butane abuse.[34] He said that sniffing butane "made [him] forget what happened in Singapore."[37] In 1996, he was cited in Florida for a number of violations, including careless driving, reckless driving, not reporting a crash, and having an open bottle of alcohol in a car.[38] Later, in 1998, Fay was arrested for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia,[39] charges to which he confessed but was acquitted because of technical errors in his arrest.[40]

In June 2010, Fay's case was recalled in international news, after another foreigner in Singapore, Swiss national Oliver Fricker, was sentenced to five months in jail and three strokes of the cane for trespassing a rail depot to vandalise a train of the Mass Rapid Transit.[41]

On 14 May 1994, the American professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling staged an event, When Worlds Collide, which featured a tag team match pitting the Sandman and a partner of his choosing against Tommy Cairo and the Sandman's estranged wife Peaches, with the stipulation that the loser would receive six lashes from a "Singapore cane". This match led to the Singapore cane becoming established as a popular weapon in professional wrestling; the Sandman began carrying a Singapore cane to the ring for the remainder of his career.[42][43][44][45]

The incident was referenced in the Weird Al Yankovic song "Headline News", released September 1994.[46]

On 19 February 1995, the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, "Bart vs. Australia", lampooned the caning.[47][48]

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Fay". National Library Board (Singapore). October 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Shenon, Philip (16 March 1994). "A Flogging Sentence Brings a Cry of Pain in U.S." The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017.
  3. 1 2 Wallace, Charles P. (9 March 1994). "Singapore Blasts Back at Clinton in Caning Case". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Reyes, Alejandro (25 May 1994). "Rough Justice: A Caning in Singapore Stirs Up a Fierce Debate About Crime and Punishment". Asiaweek. Hong Kong. Retrieved 10 July 2026 – via Corpun.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ "Youth's Hometown Backs Caning in Vandalism". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Reuters. 10 April 1994. Retrieved 10 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. 1 2 3 Reyes, Alejandro (25 May 1994). "Rough Justice: A Caning in Singapore Stirs Up a Fierce Debate About Crime And Punishment". Asiaweek. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019.
  7. 1 2 Tan, Ooi Boon (7 October 1993). "9 foreign students held for vandalism". The Straits Times. Singapore. p. 1. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  8. 1 2 Chong, Elena (1 April 1994). "Fay loses appeal". The Straits Times. Singapore.
  9. 1 2 "'I Tried to Ignore the Pain.'". Newsweek. 3 July 1994. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  10. ↑ Wallace, Charles P. (4 March 1994). "Ohio Youth to be Flogged in Singapore". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ↑ Watts, David (4 March 1994). "Singapore sentences American to caning". The Times. London.
  12. ↑ Stewart, Ian (22 April 1994). "Flogging for vandal". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010.
  13. ↑ Wallace, Charles P. (21 April 1994). "Last-Ditch Plea Against U.S. Teen's Flogging Filed : Asia: Michael Fay signed 'intensely personal' appeal. But he has lost hope for clemency, his father says". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved 10 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ↑ Shenon, Philip (17 April 1994). "Overlooked Question in Singapore Caning Debate: Is the Teen-Ager Guilty?". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ Branigin, William (5 May 1994). "Singapore Reduces American's Sentence". The Washington Post.
  16. 1 2 "Teen receives caning in Singapore". The Roanoke Times. 22 June 1994. Retrieved 10 July 2026 – via Virginia Tech News.
  17. ↑ Wallace, Charles P. (22 June 1994). "Singapore Frees Flogged U.S. Teen-Ager". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  18. ↑ Shenon, Philip (6 May 1994). "Singapore Carries Out Caning of U.S. Teenager". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017.
  19. 1 2 "Caned American in pain all the time". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. 7 May 1994. Retrieved 10 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. 1 2 "Fay describes caning as 'real pain'". United Press International. 25 June 1994. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  21. ↑ Parascandola, Rocco (August 1994). "Singapore Hosts Some Most Unruly Guests". American Journalism Review. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
  22. ↑ Stone, Andrea (10 March 1994). "Whipping penalty judged too harsh – by some". USA Today. Washington DC. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020.
  23. ↑ "What US columnists say about Fay's caning". The Straits Times. Singapore. 8 April 1994. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  24. ↑ "Don't copy Singapore". USA Today. Washington DC. 5 April 1994. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009.
  25. ↑ Usborne, David (2 April 1994). "'Joe Public' backs caning of American". The Independent. London. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  26. ↑ Royko, Mike (30 March 1994). "Readers get 'behind' flogging of vandal". Daily News. New York. Retrieved 18 May 2023 – via www.corpun.com.
  27. ↑ Brownstein, Ronald (21 April 1994). "Singapore's Caning Sentence Divides Americans, Poll Finds". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  28. ↑ Fawcett, Karen (9 March 1994). "Americans in Singapore condemn caning for teen". USA Today. Washington DC. Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  29. ↑ Richardson, Michael (5 May 1994). "Responding to Clinton's Plea, Singapore Cuts 6 Lashes to 4". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  30. ↑ Wallace, Charles P. (22 June 1994). "Singapore Frees Flogged U.S. Teen-Ager : Asia: Michael Fay is 'happy to be out' after early release. He leaves the country, heads for home". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved 10 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ↑ "The Road From Singapore". Daily News. New York. 22 June 1994. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015 – via www.corpun.com.
  32. ↑ "Larry King Live". CNN. 29 June 1994. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015.
  33. ↑ "Fay Describes Caning, Seeing Resulting Scars". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Reuters. 26 June 1994. Retrieved 10 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  34. 1 2 "Michael Fay," People Magazine, 26 December 1994, p. 60.
  35. ↑ "Drug Rehab For Teen Caned in Singapore," Chicago Tribune, 29 September 1994, p. 14.
  36. ↑ "The Nation," USA Today, Washington, D.C., 29 September 1994, p. 03A.
  37. ↑ "Teen Punished in Singapore Has Drug Habit – Michael Fay Was Sniffing Butane," Times-Picayune, New Orleans, 29 September 1994, p. A24.
  38. ↑ "Q&A," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 13 October 2003, p. B2.
  39. ↑ Flatley, Kerry A. (9 April 1998). "Boy Caned in Singapore Makes News Again". The Christian Science Monitor. Boston MA. p. 18. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016.
  40. ↑ "Drug Charges Dropped," Asiaweek, Hong Kong, 29 June 1998, p. 1.
  41. ↑ "Graffiti man faces Singapore caning". BBC News. 25 June 2010. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  42. ↑ Flackett, Chris (21 October 2019). "Blinding in Hostile City: Tommy Dreamer, kayfabe, and The Sandman". SportsObsessive.com. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  43. ↑ O'Sullivan, Jaclyn; Stein, Chris (6 August 2007). "Tools of the Trade". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  44. ↑ Matt (September 2019). "ECW: When Worlds Collide (05.94)". PDRWrestling.net. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  45. ↑ Matthews, Paul (31 August 2019). "Classic Wrestling Review: When Worlds Collide '94". CultureCrossfire.com. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  46. ↑ McDonald, Patrick (1 December 1994). "Magical Music". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. Retrieved 1 May 2013. (subscription required)
  47. ↑ Mirkin, David (2005). The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart vs. Australia" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  48. ↑ Tseng, Douglas (25 July 2007). "D'oh Spinner — A movie, eh? Mmmm, 18 years after The Simpsons wooed TV viewers — oh those chalkboard gags, couch gags and wicked one-liners — they are finally terrorising the big screen". The Straits Times.

Further reading

  • Latif, Asad (1994). The Flogging of Singapore: The Michael Fay Affair. Singapore: Times Books International. ISBN 981-204-530-9
  • Baratham, Gopal (1994). The Caning of Michael Fay. Singapore: KRP Publication. ISBN 981-00-5747-4
  • The Asiaweek Newsmap (27 April 1994). Asiaweek.
  • Chew, Valerie (5 August 2009). "Michael Fay", Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board.
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