Sick Singapore refuses Mum's plea for final embrace

Mum begs for final embrace

By Edith Bevin

December 01, 2005

THE mother of condemned Australian Van Tuong Nguyen says she is "drawing strength" from her doomed son as she steels herself to say her final goodbye. But Kim Nguyen will be denied a chance to hug her boy ahead of his end at dawn (9am ADST) tomorrow, despite her pleas and Canberra's calls for the Singaporean Government to let her hold him one last time before he dies.

Mrs Nguyen was "hoping against hope" that she would be allowed physical contact during her final visit today.

She told her family's priest Father Peter Norden she had not had an answer from prison authorities as to whether she could hold her son.

"She's been seeing him every day but what she is hoping for is to be allowed a contact visit," Father Norden said. "For three years now she's been talking to him through holes in a screen.

"She just deals with local officers - the people that make the decisions are powerful people within their government.

"They're just hoping against hope for that (that she'll be allowed to touch him). It's a pretty painful time."

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is also yet to get a response from the Singapore Government to his request that Mrs Nguyen have physical contact with her son.

But Nguyen's lawyer Lex Lasry said last night he thought it was still "possible" his client would be granted physical access to his mother.

"I think it's possible but I'm not sure where that is up to," Mr Lasry said.

"Anyone with any level of humanity would permit that, we live in hope that that will be allowed to happen."

The former Vietnamese refugee was now resigned to her son's fate, Father Norden said.

"She seemed a bit stronger on Tuesday than she did the day before - she was pretty distressed then," he said. "She said she was getting strength from her son. He looks well physically and is approaching the situation with strength.

"His concern is for his mother and brother and the situation with strength. His concern isfor his mother and brother and friends.

"He's quite an extraordinary young man."

Nguyen's best friend Kelly Ng said the final week had taken a huge toll on Mrs Nguyen, who she said was suffering physically as well as emotionally.

"In a physical sense she's lost a lot of weight and her hair's becoming quite white, and that's only been a change within a week," Ms Ng said.

"I've also noticed she's become a lot more accepting to the situation that we are in at the moment."

The final goodbye will end at 6pm when Nguyen, 25, is taken back to his 3m by 3m cell by prison guards.

At 6am Singapore time tomorrow he will be hanged.

Singapore's Prime Minister yesterday quashed any inkling of hope that Nguyen's life could be saved.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made it clear the city-state would go ahead with the hanging.

Mr Lee, currently in Europe, told French newspaper Le Figaro that the rest penalty "is necessary and is part of the criminal justice system".

"We also think that drug trafficking is a crime that deserves the rest penalty," he said.

"The evil inflicted on thousands of people with drug trafficking demands that we must tackle the source by punishing the traffickers rather than trying to pick up the pieces afterwards."

Private groups and Opposition politicians in Australia have called for sanctions against Singapore but Prime Minister John Howard has adopted a more restrained approach and sought clemency for Nguyen.

Nguyen was arrested at Changi airport three years ago carrying almost 400g of injection.