Read Online Once a Jolly Hangman by Alan Shadrake - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Alan Shadrake
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last British colonial hangman in Singapore and Singh hopes one day his name will appear in the Guinness Book of Records as the most prolific executioner of all time - with special mention of what he regards is his greatest accomplishment: the day he hanged those 18 men from the Isle of Ease whose trial and conviction for murder he had witnessed from start to finish. He told me that he had actually applied to the publishers for this recognition and when I enquired at their offices in London I was told his request had been denied. No reason was given. Perhaps such a record was considered too unsavoury for this revered and popular publication - or maybe he had to do the impossible - provide proof of this 'achievement' before it could be considered and accepted. Singapore would never allow such proof - given that these are their near-sacred secrets - to be published officially anywhere.
When all the appeals processes had been exhausted and an execution date fixed, the 18 were separated in individual cells early one Friday morning in 1964. A guard stood at each cell door. Each prisoner had already been weighed and measured. They were of varying weight, height and muscularity and Darshan Singh had to ensure he got his sums exactly right for each prisoner. He did not want anything to go wrong. 'If you get it wrong the head would go one way and the body the other', he told me. This was one of the biggest tests of his career. As a new day began Darshan Singh, helped by two assistants per prisoner, led them in single file three at a time into the execution chamber, their arms already secured tightly behind their backs. They were then made to stand on the twin traps doors where their legs were strapped together. Any last minute panic struggling and kicking out as they plunged downwards when the trapdoors opened may mean starting all over again. It was a spectacle none of the witnesses - the prison governor, doctor and other officials - wanted to see twice. It was nightmarish enough, even with their experience.
The prisoners died together three at a time instantaneously. But not before Singh 'kindly' uttered what he thought were comforting words: 'I am sending you to a better place than this'. According to execution policy the bodies had to remain hanging for at least ten minutes to ensure death had taken place or as soon as the prison doctor certified death had taken place. Those waiting for their turn could hear the clunk of the trapdoors as they opened simultaneously and three dull thuds. They were already helpless with their arms pinioned behind their backs. Panic set in for many as they began wailing in sheer terror. It was important to get it over with as quickly as possible. Each batch took almost 40 minutes from the time they were prepared, put on the gallows, then left to hang for the prescribed time. The bodies were removed as soon as they were pronounced dead by the prison doctor. The gallows had to be checked to ensure the mechanism would work the next time. Even so, they were being executed at a fast rate. The entire gruesome process was all over well before lunchtime. Nothing had gone wrong. The 18 corpses were lined up in the prison morgue awaiting disposal. The unclaimed bodies were sent to a crematorium chosen by the prison; the others taken by grieving relatives for funeral services according to their religion.
Eighteen of the accused had been jailed for the maximum of three years for rioting while being armed with deadly weapons, 11 more for two years for rioting only. The remaining 11 were acquitted. They in particular were thanking their lucky stars they were not among their fellow inmates who were being hanged that morning. Two of the nine defence lawyers, Jiwat G. Advani and Chug Kiat Leng, described the trial as 'the biggest in Malaysian legal annals'. As the jury retired to consider the verdicts after Mr Justice Buttrose completed his five-day summing-up, he said: 'The unflagging interest you have given this
When all the appeals processes had been exhausted and an execution date fixed, the 18 were separated in individual cells early one Friday morning in 1964. A guard stood at each cell door. Each prisoner had already been weighed and measured. They were of varying weight, height and muscularity and Darshan Singh had to ensure he got his sums exactly right for each prisoner. He did not want anything to go wrong. 'If you get it wrong the head would go one way and the body the other', he told me. This was one of the biggest tests of his career. As a new day began Darshan Singh, helped by two assistants per prisoner, led them in single file three at a time into the execution chamber, their arms already secured tightly behind their backs. They were then made to stand on the twin traps doors where their legs were strapped together. Any last minute panic struggling and kicking out as they plunged downwards when the trapdoors opened may mean starting all over again. It was a spectacle none of the witnesses - the prison governor, doctor and other officials - wanted to see twice. It was nightmarish enough, even with their experience.
The prisoners died together three at a time instantaneously. But not before Singh 'kindly' uttered what he thought were comforting words: 'I am sending you to a better place than this'. According to execution policy the bodies had to remain hanging for at least ten minutes to ensure death had taken place or as soon as the prison doctor certified death had taken place. Those waiting for their turn could hear the clunk of the trapdoors as they opened simultaneously and three dull thuds. They were already helpless with their arms pinioned behind their backs. Panic set in for many as they began wailing in sheer terror. It was important to get it over with as quickly as possible. Each batch took almost 40 minutes from the time they were prepared, put on the gallows, then left to hang for the prescribed time. The bodies were removed as soon as they were pronounced dead by the prison doctor. The gallows had to be checked to ensure the mechanism would work the next time. Even so, they were being executed at a fast rate. The entire gruesome process was all over well before lunchtime. Nothing had gone wrong. The 18 corpses were lined up in the prison morgue awaiting disposal. The unclaimed bodies were sent to a crematorium chosen by the prison; the others taken by grieving relatives for funeral services according to their religion.
Eighteen of the accused had been jailed for the maximum of three years for rioting while being armed with deadly weapons, 11 more for two years for rioting only. The remaining 11 were acquitted. They in particular were thanking their lucky stars they were not among their fellow inmates who were being hanged that morning. Two of the nine defence lawyers, Jiwat G. Advani and Chug Kiat Leng, described the trial as 'the biggest in Malaysian legal annals'. As the jury retired to consider the verdicts after Mr Justice Buttrose completed his five-day summing-up, he said: 'The unflagging interest you have given this
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