Michael P. Fay
Michael Peter Fay, better known simply as Michael Fay, is an American citizen who was the subject of international attention in 1994 when he was sentenced to six strokes of the cane in Singapore for theft and vandalism at age 18. Fay pleaded guilty; however, he later maintained that he was advised that such a plea would preclude caning and that his confession was false, that he never vandalized any cars, and that the only crime he committed was stealing signs. Although caning is a routine court sentence in Singapore, its use caused controversy in the United States, and Fay's case was believed to be the first caning involving an American citizen. The number of cane strokes in Fay's sentence was ultimately reduced from six to four after United States officials requested leniency.
Early life
Fay was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His mother, Randy, divorced his father, George, when he was eight. As a child, he was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder which, his lawyer later claimed, did not contribute to Fay committing vandalism in Singapore.Although Fay mostly lived with his father after the divorce, he later moved to Singapore to live with his mother and stepfather, Marco Chan, and was enrolled in the Singapore American School.
Theft and vandalism in Singapore
In October 1993, The Straits Times, Singapore's main English-language newspaper, reported that car vandalism in Singapore was on the rise. Cars parked at apartment blocks were being damaged with hot tar, paint remover, red spray paint, and hatchets. Taxi drivers complained that their tires were slashed. In the city center, cars were found with deep scratches and dents. One man complained that he had to refinish his car six times in six months.The Singapore police eventually arrested 16-year-old Andy Shiu Chi Ho, a Chinese citizen from Hong Kong. He was not caught vandalizing cars, but was charged with driving his father's car without a license. After questioning Shiu, the police questioned several expatriate students from the Singapore American School, including Fay, and charged them with more than 50 counts of vandalism. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing the cars in addition to stealing road signs. He later maintained that he was advised that such a plea would preclude caning and that his confession was false, that he never vandalized any cars, and that the only crime he committed was stealing signs.
Under the 1966 Vandalism Act, originally passed to curb the spread of political graffiti and which specifically penalized vandalism of government property, Fay was sentenced on March 3, 1994 to four months in jail, a fine of 3,500 Singapore dollars, and six strokes of the cane. Shiu, who pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to eight months in prison and 12 strokes of the cane.
Fay's lawyers appealed, arguing that the Vandalism Act provided caning only for forms of graffiti vandalism, and that the damaged cars had been cheaply restored to their original condition.
Response
From the United States government
The official position of the United States government was that although it recognized Singapore's right to punish Fay within the due process of law, the punishment of caning was excessive for a teenager who committed a non-violent crime. The United States Embassy in Singapore pointed out that the graffiti damage to the cars was not permanent, but caning would leave Fay with permanent physical scars.Bill Clinton, the President of the United States, called Fay's punishment extreme and mistaken, and pressured the Singapore government to grant Fay clemency from caning. Two dozen United States senators signed a letter to the Singapore government also appealing for clemency. The Singapore government pointed out that Singaporeans who break the law faced the same punishments as Fay, and claimed that Singapore's laws had kept the city free of vandalism and violence of the kind seen in New York City.
Nevertheless, Ong Teng Cheong, the then head of state of Singapore, commuted Fay's caning from six to four strokes as a gesture of respect toward President Clinton. Shiu's sentence was later also reduced, from 12 strokes to six, after a similar clemency appeal. Fay was caned on May 5, 1994, at Queenstown Remand Centre.
Public reaction
Following Fay's sentence, the case received wide coverage by the American and international media. The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times ran editorials and op-eds condemning the punishment. USA Today reported that caning involved "bits of flesh fly with each stroke." The punishment had to be accomplished by trained warders holding high grades in martial arts. Public opinion in the USA was mixed. A survey of 23,000 people conducted by National Polling Network found that 53% "favor whipping and other harsh sentences as an acceptable deterrent to crime in the USA".Caning
Describing the caning day, Fay told Reuters he did not know the time had come for punishment when he was taken from his cell. He said he was bent over a trestle so his buttocks stuck out, with his hands and feet buckled to the structure. He was naked except for a protective rubber pad fixed to his back. The flogger, a doctor, and prison officials were also present.Fay told Reuters the caner walked sharply forward three steps to build power. "They go 'Count one'—you hear them yell it really loud—and a few seconds later they come, I guess I would call it charging at you with a rattan cane." He noted that a prison officer guided him through the ordeal saying: "OK Michael, three left; OK Michael, two left; OK one more, you're almost done." Fay reported that when the fourth stroke was delivered he was immediately unbuckled from the trestle and taken to a cell to recover. The caning, which Fay estimated took one minute, left a "few streaks of blood" running down his buttocks, and seven weeks later, left three dark-brown scar patches on his right buttock and four lines each about half-an-inch wide on his left buttock. He said that the wounds hurt for about five days after which they itched as they healed. "The first couple of days it was very hard to sit," Fay reported, but he said he was able to walk after the caning.
Aftermath
After his release from prison in June 1994, Fay returned to the United States to live with his biological father. He gave several television interviews, including one with his American lawyer on CNN with Larry King on June 29, 1994, in which he admitted taking road signs but denied vandalizing cars. He also claimed that he was ill-treated during questioning, but had shaken hands with the caning operative after his four strokes had been administered.Several months after returning to the United States, Fay suffered burns to his hands and face after a butane incident. He was subsequently admitted to the Hazelden rehabilitation program for butane abuse. He claimed that sniffing butane "made forget what happened in Singapore." In 1996, he was cited in Florida for a number of violations, including careless driving, reckless driving, not reporting a crash, and having an open bottle of alcohol in a car. Later, in 1998, still in Florida, Fay was arrested for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, charges to which he confessed but was acquitted because of technical errors in his arrest.
During an interview with CCTV in June 2004, Lee Kuan Yew, then Senior Minister of Singapore, said that Fay hit his father upon his return in the United States, which was suppressed by the American media. In June 2010, Fay's case was recalled in international news, after another foreigner in Singapore, Swiss IT consultant Oliver Fricker, was sentenced to five months in jail and three strokes of the cane for vandalizing a train.
It was reported by a Singaporean news outlet in August 2018 that Fay was working as a casino manager in Cincinnati.
In popular culture
, episode 18 of Saturday Night Live cold-opened with a sketch of Michael Fay's caning. Host Emilio Estevez as Fay, Kevin Nealon administering the caning, Rob Schneider as the warden, and Phil Hartman as the doctor.In September 1994 "Weird Al" Yankovic released a song, "Headline News", which satirized the Fay case along with the Tonya Harding and Bobbitts stories.
"Headwriter", a 1994 episode of The Larry Sanders Show opened with Sanders making a joke about Fay in the character's opening monologue: "Michael Fay is back in the U.S. from Singapore. And I can assure you, that is a long flight, especially when you have to stand the whole way."
Dr. Dre and Ice Cube referenced the caning in their 1994 single, "Natural Born Killaz".
The case inspired a 1995 Simpsons episode, "Bart vs. Australia", in which Australia is to punish Bart via "booting"—a kick in the buttocks using a giant boot.