Prayer for man on death row in Singapore
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November 6, 2005 - 10:34AM
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More than 1,000 people packed St Patrick's Catholic cathedral in
Melbourne on Sunday for an inter-faith service to pray for an
Australian national on death row in Singapore.
Nguyen's Tuong Van's mother, Kim Nguyen, sat throughout the service
with her hands held in silent prayer, except for when she joined
family and friends at the altar.
After the service an emotional Mrs Nguyen said she was grateful for
the support.
"Everyone who comes to help, they pray for my son today, thank
you," Mrs Nguyen said.
She said she did not know if her son was aware of the prayer
services and the swell of support from the community in
Australia.
"I wish he knows, but I am really not sure."
She said she has not received any letters or phone calls from her
son, and the only contact has been through glass during a visit to
Changi prison in Singapore, where her son has been for the past
three years.
"No nothing, I just go to Singapore and visit him in front of the
glass for about half an hour.
"Very hard, three years already."
The service began with the chanting of the Mantra for the
presentation of life by the monks of the Quang Minh temple in
Melbourne.
There were no testimonials, just prayers offered in English and
Vietnamese for the 25-year-old, who could face the gallows sometime
in the next four weeks.
Father Peter Hansen told the congregation, which ranged in age from
young babies to the elderly, and was a mixture of different
cultures, that Nguyen, like Sir Thomas Moore, would reflect on his
life during his time behind bars.
Sir Thomas was the Renaissance English author and Catholic martyr,
who was found guilty of treason and spent time in the Tower of
London, before he was beheaded on July 6, 1535.
Fr Hansen said both men "had gone to the darkest place that any
human being could wish to got to."
And he said like Sir Thomas, Nguyen had "suffered deprivation of
his liberty".
Among those in the congregation were Nguyen's Melbourne legal team,
Lex Lasry, QC, who sat beside Mrs Nguyen, and fellow lawyer, Julian
McMahon.
Outside the church Mr Lasry reiterated that they have not given up
the fight.
"All time passing means is that we keep fighting ... as I have said
plenty of times before, we're going to keep pushing on," Mr Lasry
said.
"We've got a number of arguments to put and a number of steps to
take yet and so we just keep going."
Mr Lasry said the turn-out meant a lot to Nguyen's family.
"It shows them that they've got great support in the extraordinary
difficulties that they have to deal with and I think that's a very
important thing," he said.
"Our client's mother knows she is not alone and that she is being
supported by a wide range of people."
He said he suspected Nguyen was aware of some support from
home.
"Knowing Van I'm sure he's very pleased and quite moved by
it".
Fr Peter Norden, from the Jesuit Social Services, said that the
service was a sign of solidarity by the Victorian community about
its belief in the dignity of all life.
"There was easily one thousand people in the church, it was full,"
Fr Norden said.
"Even though this young man's been convicted of an offence, we
don't believe that he deserves to lose his life."
Bronwyn Lew, who has been behind the Reach Out for Van campaign,
said she was overwhelmed by the support.
"It is wonderful and I think it's a good opportunity for people to
show their support by coming here today," Ms Lew said.
"We need to keep hope and we need to keep fighting."
She said that they had also received emails from around the world
in support of the Reach out for Van campaign.
"We've been receiving hands from big to small, adult hands to baby
hands on coloured pieces of paper, and some are written in
different languages and some from different countries, which is
very beautiful.
"We hope that with these hands we can carry the message to the
Singapore government that Van's life should be spared, and he
doesn't deserve to die."
Nguyen was caught smuggling 396 grams of heroin strapped to his
body and in his hand luggage at Changi airport in Singapore in
2002.
