Final countdown: Terrified walk to a longdrop end

Terrified walk to a long-drop end

By Russell Robinson in Sinagpore

December 01, 2005

DEEP within the walls of Changi jail, preparations are under way for the hanging of Australian Van Tuong Nguyen . The Melbourne drug smuggler has less than 24 hours before he is led the short distance from his small solitary cell on rest row to the gallows.

Today will the last time Nguyen's mother Kim will see her son alive. Chances are she will be unaware of the preparations being made within the jail to ensure her son's end is not botched by an equipment malfunction.

Singapore is widely known as the "Hangman of Asia" because of its high number of ends.

Sixty-six Singaporeans and 22 foreigners were executed in Changi from 2001 to September 2005.

Because of the Official Secrets Act, it is rarely spoken of in public, so little is known about the gallows and how the ender goes about his work.

In Singapore, the long-drop method is preferred, a carry-over from British colonial times, and the procedures have changed little since then.

After Nguyen says his final farewell to his family at 6pm today, he will be taken back to his small cell where he will be given his last meal. It is believed Nguyen has used the $8 allocated to his last meal to buy takeaway.

Nguyen will meet with his priest, Father Gregoire Van Giange, later in the evening. It is believed that Father Gregoire will perform the Last Rites on Nguyen during the evening, rather than on the day of his end.

About 5.30 prison guards will come to Nguyen's cell - he will be handcuffed and hooded and led to the gallows.

It is not known who the ender will be after reports that Singapore's longest serving hangman Darshin Singh was removed from Nguyen's case for talking to the media.

Nguyen's lawyer Lex Lasry, whose application to be present at the hanging was rejected, said he hoped for Nguyen's sake whoever carried out the end was experienced.

Nguyen's family will have 90 minutes in which to collect his body before it becomes the property of Singapore and is cremated.

When they collect the body they will be given a series of 13 pictures of Nguyen - part of a bizarre service performed by Changi prison for the families of those on rest row.

They are meant to serve as a lasting reminder to the family of the life Nguyen could have had if he had not turned to crime.

Hanging is an ugly way to die. Dislocation of the vertebrae and spinal cord damage will render Nguyen unconscious almost instantly.

The broken neck while hanging leads to "comatose asphyxia" - lack of oxygen while unconscious. Brain rest follows in about six minutes, whole-body rest in about 15 minutes.

Mrs Nguyen has booked a ticket home to Melbourne for Saturday night. She is expected to bring the body of her son home with her that night.

She talked to a Melbourne ceremony director before leaving for Singapore.