MRT vandal's jail term extended by two months to seven months

Oliver Fricker, 32, the swiss national that broke into an SMRT depot and vandalizing a train has had his five months jail term extended to seven months after the prosecution argued that his jail term for trespass should be increased.
Firstly, I feel that there is nothing wrong with graffiti. Graffiti is a beautiful work of art and is no different from wall murals. The only difference is that graffiti is not allowed in Singapore except for certain designated areas.
Graffiti is extremely creative and interesting and in fact, many consumers who saw the spray-painted train even thought it was part of some sort of advertisement or campaign SMRT was carrying out. Many did not think it was 'ugly' too. SMRT trains now are not exactly very creative, with them being either white with red lines or black with red lines. What I think SMRT should do is to perhaps designate a certain number of trains to be decorated with graffiti and the artists have to prove that they are capable of producing quality works of art. I feel that this will definitely be beneficial to many people as when they take the train to work early in the morning or back home after work late at night, the creativity of the graffiti on the trains will definitely catch their attention and lift their spirits.
However, I agree that Fricker's jail sentence for trespassing should be increased. His getting past the tight security at the depot may instigate greater treats than a graffiti artist. Already, there have been failed terrorist attacks on Singapore Changi Airport, including the plan hatched by the infamous Mas Selamat. By showing that as there is a way to get in, Fricker may have encouraged terrorists to try and carry out an attack on one of Singapore's major transport system, the Mass Rapid Transport system.

Russian dies in World Sauna Championship Final

On 7 August 2010, the annual World Sauna Championship Finals in Finland ended in a tragedy. Six minutes had gone by when the judges noticed something was wrong with the Russian champion, Vladimir Ladyzhensky. The event was stopped immediately and the Russian and his Finnish opponent, Timo Kaukonen, were brought to the hospital. Ladyzhensky died soon after he was brought to the hospital while Kaukonen suffered burns. The cause of his death is still unknown as all rules were followed and he had undergone a medical check-up before the event.
In my opinion, Vladimir Ladyzhensky made the wrong choice to take part in this competition. Although he had been certified medically, there is always a chance that something might go wrong. If I were the Russian, I would not take part in the competition. Firstly, the competition is extremely dangerous and can be life-threatening. Is it worth it to trade your life for money and fame? Definitely not. In the picture in the newspaper, I can also infer that Vladimir Ladyzhensky is an old man in his 50s or 60s. This would mean that it would be even more dangerous for him. Lastly, Vladimir Ladyzhensky's death would have a huge impact on his family members. They would definitely be very hurt and grieved over his passing. By taking this huge risk to enter the competition, Vladimir Ladyzhensky has paid the price and has caused his family and friends to suffer. Hence, I feel that he made the wrong choice to take part in this competition.

Russian dies in World Sauna Championship Final

On 7 August 2010, the annual World Sauna Championship Finals in Finland ended in a tragedy. Six minutes had gone by when the judges noticed something was wrong with the Russian champion, Vladimir Ladyzhensky. The event was stopped immediately and the Russian and his Finnish opponent, Timo Kaukonen, were brought to the hospital. Ladyzhensky died soon after he was brought to the hospital while Kaukonen suffered burns. The cause of his death is still unknown as all rules were followed and he had undergone a medical check-up before the event.
In my opinion, Vladimir Ladyzhensky made the wrong choice to take part in this competition. Although he had been certified medically, there is always a chance that something might go wrong. If I were the Russian, I would not take part in the competition. Firstly, the competition is extremely dangerous and can be life-threatening. Is it worth it to trade your life for money and fame? Definitely not. In the picture in the newspaper, I can also infer that Vladimir Ladyzhensky is an old man in his 50s or 60s. This would mean that it would be even more dangerous for him. Lastly, Vladimir Ladyzhensky's death would have a huge impact on his family members. They would definitely be very hurt and grieved over his passing. By taking this huge risk to enter the competition, Vladimir Ladyzhensky has paid the price and has caused his family and friends to suffer. Hence, I feel that he made the wrong choice to take part in this competition.

Should drug trafficker get death sentence?

Malaysian Yong Vui Kong, convicted of drug trafficking 47.27g of heroin and sentenced to the gallows, has hope. In Singapore, trafficking 15g or more of heroin will result in the death penalty. Their reasons include that he has become repentant in prison and that his death will not deter others from trafficking the drug.
In my opinion, he does not deserve the death sentence,even though he did surpass the amount of drug that warrants a death sentence by almost three times. Firstly, he did not harm anybody directly in any way. Some may argue that as the drug destroys a person's life, it is still the person's choice whether he or she wants to use the addictive drug. Hence, Yong cannot shoulder the blame alone.
Secondly, he is repentant over what he had done. I am sure that he is a first-time offender and did not know about the death sentence for trafficking over 15g of heroin. If he did, I am sure that he would not have done so. This is the other reason why I feel that he does not deserve the death sentence.
Instead, I think that he should be given a really long jail term, one of at least 10 years. I feel that first-offenders who traffic more than 15g of the drug should be given a long jail term, based on how much they traffic while second-time offenders should be the ones that go to the gallows.