1. "Capital punishment: Specific or general deterrence?" -- The Sun, 2012-Nov-28

[The author is associate professor of criminology, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. 'Sains' is the Malay spelling of the borrowed word for science]

"In Malaysia, the death sentence is applicable for five categories of crime: murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping, robbery with a firearm, and treason ...

"Now let us ponder if capital punishment ... fits the crime ... Typically in most murder cases, robbery cases, and kidnapping cases, the impact of the crime is small. However, in drug trafficking cases and treason cases, the consequences of these two crimes are significant not only in the numbers of victims directly involved but the massive impact on society itself."

2. "Ban it or retain it, but make it more painful" -- letter to the editor, New Straits Times, 2012-Dec-7

"I refer to the recent debate ... calling for an end to the death penalty ... The opposite view is that the death penalty is a fitting punishment ... Less publicized is the third view -- that the death penalty is too kind ... It is felt that the criminal is not made to suffer long enough, especially if the victim has suffered much. The death sentence is too quick. A life sentence with hard labour plus whipping may ensure greater suffering ... Take beheading as a form of execution. Death is said to be instantaneous, and the person executed presumably has no time to feel the pain. That is why in some countries ... A skilled executioner only severs the head on the third stroke.

"So we have three options. Ban the death penalty because it is too cruel; ban it because it does not provide enough suffering; or retain it but make it more painful."