Troukler

TROUKLER

Attractive Vacancy Opens Up In Singapore. Anybody Interested?

The authorities in Singapore are desperately looking for a replacement for their “Retiring Hangman”. Apparently it has been practically impossible to find a replacement in Singapore and it is not clear whether the Singaporean Government would look further afield now. I can think of a handful of the sadistic types here who would grab at the chance to live and work in Singapore albeit the distasteful nature of the job at hand

Singapore retired Hangman

Darshan Singh is Singapore’s official executioner. He has hanged more than 850 people in his 43 years on the job. He wants to retire. But he can’t find a replacement.

“He tried to train two would-be hangmen to replace him, a Malaysian and a Chinese, both in the prison service,” [his] colleague said. “But when it came to pulling the lever for the real thing, they both froze and could not do it.

The pot-bellied grandfather and former Singapore caner has an all-time record of hanging 18 people in one day. He hangs his victims while wearing very casual attire, usually a t-shirt and shorts.

Mr Singh joined the British colonial prison service in the mid-1950s after arriving from Malaysia. When the long-established British hangman Mr Seymour retired, Singh, then 27, volunteered for the job. He was attracted by the bonus payment for executions.

Mr Singh is credited with being the only executioner in the world to single-handedly hang 18 men in one day – three at a time....To mark his 500th hanging four years ago, four of his former colleagues turned up at his home to celebrate the event with a couple of bottles of Chivas Regal.

As a caner, he earned 50 cents a stroke. His colleague provides this in his defense:

Mr Singh reportedly spends time getting to know the condemned prisoners, especially those who do not receive visitors or religious support. “He is a very kindly man and although it’s his job to end their lives he does feel for them,” his friend said. “Mr Singh tries to comfort them if they are completely alone in the world at such a horrible time.”

Who’s next for the as yet unretired hangman?