at this sort of messy compromise the last 15 years, and we have taken this path because these issues are difficult. they are not easily settled. and we have made clear lgbtq+ individuals are entitled to live peacefully without being attacked or threatened. we have, in fact, laws that 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
a direct threat. it s as though an us versus them mentality. in china, there s a growing perception that the east is rising, the west is declining and that the us is seeking to contain china, constrain china s growth. so, the tense relations continue this way. more bifurcation of technology and supply chains, or worse. but singapore, like many other countries in this region, will want to maintain good relations with both washington and beijing. the point is that may not be possible, and it may be that it isn t just about us china, it s about authoritarians and democratic systems increasingly polarised around the world. you ve made a stand on ukraine. you re one of the few asian countries that has imposed sanctions on russia. your pm called the putin invasion an unprovoked invasion of a sovereign country. that suggests to me that right now, in terms of values and worldview, you are actually closer to washington than you are to beijing. we also opposed the us
everything that is said by someone. my point to you is, what is the difference between mr nagaenthran and the two persons executed in the us in october 2021? surely, surely you should be holding yourself to a universally high standard. you are a minister who has talked about making sure that compassion is at the centre of thejudicial system in singapore. so it s no good pointing to other countries which may have their own flaws. i m asking you to look at this on its merits. on its merits, this is the point i will make. this is a man who brought in drugs in order to make money. he had the workings of a criminal mind. his own psychiatrist confirmed that he was not intellectually disabled, and. look at the context. we are talking about saving lives. what do i mean? in the 1990s, we were arresting about 6000 people per year.
the situation in ukraine and so on has shown the importance of governance. so, if you look at it the last few years, the way covid has been handled, you know, we have rational health care policies, rational economic policies. we have continued growing, we have managed our economy. so, there s been a flight to quality. people look around, they say, which countries are safe? which countries are safe to be physically in? which countries are safe to put your money in? and there has been a flight to quality, there has been a movement to singapore, money as well as people. and i think there is an appreciation that singapore is one of the good places to do business in. sadly, minister k shanmugam, we have to end there, but i do thank you very much indeed forjoining me on hardtalk.
to actually strike off section 377a and make it clear to gay men in singapore that they can be open about their sexuality with no fear that anybody is going to regard them as criminal? two points. first of all, the ipsos survey seems to us a little bit of an outlier in the context of other surveys, internal and public, that we have. at the same time, i did say to you that attitudes are shifting, but i m not quite sure they are shifting as much as what ipsos has said. the second point is i said that we are in deep consultations with stakeholders, including lgbtq+ community, as well as others, and you know, in system of cabinet responsibility, what we are going to do can only be announced once a decision is reached. i m in no position to answer that question with finality at this point. last year, the economist magazine, which has some