Singapore's stocking-foot executioner

By Cory Doctorow at 1:17 am Tuesday, Nov 8

KH points us to this story on Singapore's executioner, who has "come to light because a 25 year old Australian Asian kid is going to be hanged shortly and the Australian media wants to 'out' the man who's going to do the deed." He is 73 years old, has been on the job since the 50s, and has killed over 500 850 people. He works "wearing simple casual clothes, often just a T-shirt, shorts, sports shoes and knee-length socks," and gets S$400 per kill -- he's a Manchester United supporter.

Journalists I spoke with in Singapore said that while some executions are turned into spectacles, many others are conducted quietly, with little or no reportage. The Singaporean government, which owns all the media in Singapore, has in the past prohibited the publication of some details of executions, and in one instance banned the use of an executed man's image in connection with fundraisers for his orphaned children. Link (Thanks, KH!)