Malaysian Vong Vui Kong, 25, who has been on death row for five years, was re-sentenced to life imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane yesterday.

Under the changes to the Misuse of Drugs Act passed by Parliament last November, the courts now have the discretion to impose life sentence and caning, instead of the mandatory death penalty, for drug couriers who assist the authorities "substantively".

Justice Choo Han Teck said that he was satisfied that the requirements of the amended law applied to Yong.

Yong's lawyer M Ravi, however, was worried that Vong might not be able to take the caning because he looked so "weak and frail".

Below is a time-line of events

Jun 2007: 19-year old Yong entered Singapore through the Causeway in a car driven by his friend.

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He was arrested when the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers caught him delivering drugs to two customers.

Nov 2008: Yong is convicted by the High Court of trafficking with 47.27g of heroin. 

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He was sentenced to the death penalty, which is mandatory for offences involving trafficking in more than 15g of the drug.

April 2009: Yong filed an appeal, but withdrew it a week before his hearing.

Aug 2009: His family delivered a petition with 109, 346 signatures to then President S R Nathan at the Istana.

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His family sought for clemency on the basis of Yong's youth. It was rejected three months later.

Dec 2009: Two days before his hanging in December 2009, Yong's lawyer M.Ravi, files a motion to revive his appeal on the grounds that the mandatory death penalty is unconstitutional. 

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He is granted a stay of execution.

Nov 2012: Amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act are passed in Parliament on 14 Nov. 

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 Source: Ministry of Home Affairs website

For drug traffickers, the court now has the power to decide between passing a sentence of life imprisonment and caning, or the death sentence. This applies to drug couriers who are deemed to have provided substantive assistance to investigations.

During his speech in Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean spoke about "re-calibrating the death penalty regime for drug trafficking". He said the changes was to help CNB investigators reach higher into the hierarchy of drug syndicates.

“Substantive assistance” in disrupting drug trafficking activities may include, for example, the provision of information leading to the arrest or detention or prosecution of any person involved in any drug trafficking activity.

Sep 2013: Yong was one of the two persons awaiting capital punishment to be issued a certificate of substantive assistance. 

Source: Attorney-General's Chambers website

If Yong was able to prove to the court that he only played the role of a courier, the prosecution would be leaving the sentence to the discretion of the court.

Yesterday: Yong is re-sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to receive 15 strokes of the cane.

Source: TODAY, 15 Nov, 2013.

Top photo from here.