President Clinton calls the punishment extreme. Some even call it torture. But the Singapore Embassy is awash these days with mail from Americans supporting the decision of a Singapore judge to have an Ohio teenager whipped for vandalism.
"America should be taking lessons from Singapore on how to prevent crime - hold the line - don't give in," says a letter from Huntington Beach, Calif. From Fresno, Calif.: "Punish hooligans and enjoy the benefits of a safe, clean society!"Chin Hock Seng, first secretary at the Singapore Embassy, says more than 100 letters and 200 phone calls have been received from Americans in recent weeks.
"The vast majority express very strong support for Singapore," Chin said, declining to give the percentages.
The Ohio teenager is Michael Fay, 18, of Dayton, who pleaded guilty after he was caught vandalizing cars with spray paint and eggs and tearing down traffic signs.
Besides a four-month prison term and a fine of $2,215, Fay also is due to be flogged on his bare buttocks six times by a martial-arts expert, a punishment that sometimes leaves permanent scars. He appealed the sentence but was turned down on Thursday; he is expected to seek clemency from Singapore President Ong Teng Cheong.
Clinton says the punishment is excessive, and Fay's mother, Randy Chan, has spent the past month lobbying for leniency.
"On the very first stroke of the cane, the skin is split," she told ABC. "By the second stroke, the buttocks is totally bloodied."
Fay's congressman, Rep. Tony Hall, a Democrat, also has taken up the youth's cause, but letters arriving at Hall's Capitol Hill office are predominantly opposed to his efforts, says spokesman Michael Gessel.
Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko wrote about the Fay case recently. He received a stack of letters "several inches high" in response and, he says, 99 percent wrote that "yes, hooray, (Fay) should be flogged." The Dayton Daily News, Fay's hometown newspaper, also says its mail is running against the youth.
Many of the letters sent to the Singapore Embassy say the U.S. crime problem would be far less severe if criminals were dealt with more harshly.