The American teenager convicted of vandalism will be lashed four times instead of six, but his father decried Singapore's refusal to spare him the "barbaric punishment."
Citing close relations with the United States, the government reduced Michael Fay's sentence Wednesday, noting that President Clinton had publicly commented on the case three times."To reject his appeal totally would show an unhelpful disregard for the president and the domestic pressures on him on this issue," a statement said.
It said the Cabinet had advised President Ong Teng Cheong to reduce the sentence, advice the president must act on according to law. The statement did not say when the painful strokes with a 4-foot rattan rod would be meted out.
Fay, 18, of Kettering, Ohio, is serving a four-month jail term for spray-painting cars and other acts of vandalism last October. Several other youthful expatriates were arrested, and some face similar charges.
Fay's slim last hope to escape the lashing is to be declared medically unfit. A doctor will be present when the beating is administered.
In Ohio, Fay's father, George, said the reduced sentence "changes nothing, as far as I'm concerned. It is barbaric punishment for a crime not committed." Fay, an automotive supply company chief executive, said he would consider suing the Singapore government then giving any money he wins to charity.
"Obviously, four strokes are better than six," the elder Fay said. "But it infuriates me that they are trying to defuse this issue by such a lame effort."
Michael Fay has lived in Singapore since 1992 with his mother, Randy Chan and stepfather Marco Chan, who told reporters they were upset by the government decision and did not want to make further comments to the press.
Fay, a high school senior, pleaded guilty last month to two charges of vandalism, two of mischief and one of possessing stolen property. Three skin-splitting lashes of a rattan cane are mandatory upon conviction for each vandalism charge. Fay was also sentenced to four months in jail and paid a fine of $2,244.
"On the merits of the case, (the Cabinet) found no special circumstances to justify commuting the sentence," the statement said. "The government cannot . . . exempt him from all six strokes without undermining its ability to enforce future caning ordered by the courts."