protect the community from hate speech and violence. what is the message sent to gay men in singapore that you are not prepared to remove that section 377a of your criminal code, which quite explicitly says that gay sex between men is illegal? that simply encourages, does it not, a culture of shame and homophobia? as i ve said, you know, it s a compromise that we have arrived atjust because of where our society is. and if you believe in a democracy, you ve got to take into account where your main ground is. and let s face it, it s not as if others have solved the issue. a supreme courtjudge from the united states suggested a few days ago that court decisions on legality of gay sex and same sex marriage may have to be reconsidered. so our approach deals with these issues in parliament and i ve said earlier this year
the authorities in northern italy say they ll resume the search for survivors of an avalanche in the dolomites on monday. at least six mountaineers were killed and eight others injured when parts of a glacier collapsed sending snow, ice and rock cascading down the slopes of marmolada. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. singapore is a city state that has thrived in the era of globalisation, international supply chains and mobile workers. but what happens when the geopolitical weather changes? when great power hostility and economic nationalism hold sway? well, my guest is singapore s long serving home minister, k shanmugam. is singapore s political and economic balancing act sustainable in a world of rising tensions?
argued that they were similarly intellectually disabled. they had similar iqs same range. somewhere between 69. 64 and 72, 63 and 95. the courts, the us supreme court in one instance, upheld the executions. the men knew what they were doing for those reasons. now i don t see the bbc. the thing is, it s about reputation. it s about your presentation of singapore to the world, if i may say so. the un human rights experts on the death penalty in may 2022, the un panel said that the executions of persons with intellectual disabilities for drugs related offences represent a violation of the right to life and the right to be free from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. they amount to, quote, unlawful killings. is that the way you want to present singapore to the world? mr sackur, this depends on whether you want to accept everything that is said by someone. my point to you is, what is the difference between mr nagaenthran and the two persons executed
let s dig into your particular remit. you re home affairs minister, you have been for some time, as well as being law minister. singapore is very well known around the world for its. ..well, many would say draconian criminal code, and particularly when it comes to drugs, narcotics, and the bringing of drugs into singapore. you have a mandatory death penalty for that particular crime. do you have any doubts at all that that is the right policy? i don t have any doubts. capital punishment is one aspect of a whole series of measures that we have to deal with drug abuse problem. it s imposed on drug traffickers and it s imposed because there is clear evidence that it s a serious deterrent for would be drug traffickers. trafficker wants to make money.
but it s a way of ensuring that ethnic chinese people get thejob. that happens. you live in singapore. you know it happens. let me explain to you. let me tell you, first of all, no one will deny that racism exists in singapore, just like it exists in most other societies which are multiracial. the question is how systemic it is and how much does it happen? and if you want an extended discussion on that, i m happy to do it. but my own experience as a minority in singapore, and the experience of many others is, on the whole, compared with many other societies, it s much less in singapore. and, you know, this thing about housing is interesting. 93% of singaporeans live in their own housing. so what you re talking about are foreigners who are seeking housing in singapore. so, you know, people get their facts confused and mixed up. well, i suppose the biggest test of all of this, if i may say so, the biggest