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Once a Jolly Hangman Paperback – 6 Jun 2011

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Alan Shadrake (Author)
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Alan Shadrake (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 11 customer reviews
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  1. Once a Jolly Hangman by Shadrake, Alan ( AUTHOR ) May-01-2011 Paperback
    Alan Shadrake
    Paperback
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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Pier 9, Murdoch Books (6 Jun. 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1742663737
  • ISBN-13: 978-1742663739
  • Product Dimensions: 15.3 x 1.8 x 23.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 676,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

About the Author

Alan Shadrake is a renowned veteran investigative journalist and author whose 50-year career has taken him around the world. His book, Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock, was published in Singapore in July 2010. It was banned immediately and Alan was arrested, tried and found guilty on several charges and sentenced to a short stint in jail. He is currently appealing his sentence.

Customer Reviews

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Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsInteresting account of a disturbing side of Singapore
By Carno Polo on 23 Sept. 2011
Format: Paperback
This author is a brave man and endured prison in Singapore for writing this book. We learn the story of a Singaporean Sikh who was the country's chief hangman for decades. It is an insighful account of this gruesome career! It also highlights some reasonable questions about the fairness of the system, much like similar debates do in other countries where the death penalty is applied. Shadrake writes well and keeps the reader's attention.

However I feel the value of the book is diminished by the value judgement of the author, who is viscerally against the death penalty. I am too by the way so I agree with him. But it seems to me that in writing this book he should better have stayed with the facts of his inquiry. As it is, his arguement is weakened by his passion. The book could be improved with some substantial editing and cuts of all that is not related to his main point about the fairness of the legal system in Singapore.
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4.0 out of 5 starsGreat subject let down by writing style
By Siriam TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on 7 Sept. 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
The book's strengths are that it is a great warts and all lifting of an area of Singapore that even within the island is not openly handled. The coup is obviously the setting up of an interview with the long standing executioner which simply confirms that the whole process is performed with little understanding of its merits and indirectly the British legacy in the way they governed pre-independence has partly contributed to the very unforgiving democratic model of PAP in the republic.

The other aspects where silence often prevails and which the book opens up are the questionable police methods employed, the protecting of certain higher interests in Singapore society including international relationships when required versus poorer and naive criminals and finally the venal attitude of the courts to disagree once the initial case has been decided and the death sentence passed. While his evidence is lighter there also seems to be open questions on how certain elements of the Australian legal system have interacted with Singapore over the years despite the odd public outcry.

Shadrake does not interestingly make any reference to the corresponding and comparable Malaysian legal system where similar abuses of justice have been claimed over the years given the close proximity of the two countries.

What finally lets the book down is the author's writing style, reflecting his daily news reporter style from when he wrote for UK papers plus inevitably the emotional drain he personally suffered when the authorities using the laws against criticising Singapore were invoked with publication and selling of Shadrake's book there.

As one of a kind to date it is to be recommended despite these reservations.
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5.0 out of 5 starsDepraved and Disturbing
By Ms. Jess on 12 May 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
The contents of this well-researched book were so depraved and disturbing, that it took me several weeks to (1) finish reading the book in its entirety, and (2) gather my thoughts about it in order to write a cohesive review.

I would have thought that the book was a work of fiction were it not for the ‘non-fiction’ label at the back of the book in the print version.

Back in 2013, former ISD director Mr. Yoong Siew Wah mentioned “the callousness of the Singapore government” on his blog.

This callous and insensitive aspect that is completely lacking in any compassion for humanity, is certainly apparent in Once A Jolly Hangman. The title alone points to the bizarre nature of the system, where the macabre act of hanging a human being is undertaken with joy as if it were a festive occasion and cause for celebration.

Perhaps the most morbid fact mentioned is the “Death Row Diet.”

As it says in the book, “Beyond the walls of Changi Prison hanged prisoners’ organs are worth tens of thousands of dollars each.”

As if this fact of profiting from dead prisoners’ bodies were not deplorable enough, the prisoners on death row who sign the consent form to donate their organs for transplant or research are put on a special regime known as the Death Row Diet. This diet consists of high-quality, nutritious food to “ensure the organs are in perfect condition for transplant after they are hanged.”

Is this not a form of ultimate exploitation of human life, where one profits handsomely from the dead and forgotten?

The other thoroughly disgusting component of the book has to do with the racial bias of the elites.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsBest read with a generous handful of salt...
By A. Scholar on 18 Aug. 2015
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I would like to preface this review by saying that, although I have undertaken considerable research into the world of capital punishment and more specifically, executioners themselves, I am by no means a supporter of the death penalty and understand that this book was written as a critique of capital punishment as a whole and specifically the Singaporean justice system. Consequently, there was no need for Mr Shadrake to delve into the history of capital punishment beyond Singapore and, by extension, the UK and this leads him to fall into the trap most sensationalist journalists are victim to: exaggeration. Fortunately, the embellishments he falls prey to do not invalidate the many evidence-based arguments he makes against the death penalty. Lastly, I was put off by his journalistic writing style which clearly came through and sometimes made me feel like I was reading a tabloid newspaper.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFabulous book, must read ".... ...

Fabulous book , must read "........will follow author

Published 12 months ago by jennifer
5.0 out of 5 starsA story to tell.

Being very much an anti druggo person, It was good news to my ears when the Singapore government announced that it is going to hang a now convicted Vietnamese / Australian drug... Read more

Published on 29 Dec. 2013 by Keith R. Sauerwald
3.0 out of 5 starsFascinating but surprisingly badly written for a journalist

Fascinating subject having lived there a couple of years myself. Full of admiration for doing something to shake the citizens of this nation out of their collective stupor. Read more

Published on 23 Feb. 2013 by 10538
4.0 out of 5 starsFab read

Uncovers the fantasy of Singapore as a model city for Asian countries. A deep insigh of how 'fair' the justice system works

Published on 27 Feb. 2012 by Bomberman
5.0 out of 5 starsFor anyone interested in the intrigue underneath the veneer of...

I've lived in South East Asia and Singapore for many years, and outside the clean safe haven of the 20x30km Island's boarders, it's bandit county. Read more

Published on 17 Oct. 2011 by Benjaminus
5.0 out of 5 starsRequired reading

Required reading for those who cannot see beyond the skyscrapers, bright lights and money in Singapore. Read more

Published on 22 Sept. 2011 by M. Morris
3.0 out of 5 starsPretty Average Reading

Read this in a couple of days after the publicity about the author imprisoned in Singapore. He does question how the death penalty works and who is subjected to it in that country... Read more

Published on 21 Aug. 2011 by Billersk

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