mordant wit

Singapore has dismissed its only hangman, less than a week before the scheduled execution of a young Australian drug smuggler, whose case has provoked intense sympathy and indignation in his home country.

Darshan Singh, 74, is said to have carried out more than 850 hangings in 46 years in Singapore. At dawn on Friday this week he was due to end the life of Van Tuong Nguyen, 25, who was caught carrying 396g of heroin through Singapore airport in 2002.

But Mr Singh has been relieved of his duties after his identity and a picture of him were published last month in The Australian newspaper. “They called me a few days ago and said I don’t have to hang Nguyen and that I don’t have to work any more,” he said. “They must be mad after seeing my picture in the newspapers.”