Americans Singapore

Michael Fay, the U.S. teen-ager who was caned in Singapore for vandalism, said prison officials told him he shouted "I'm dying!" when the first stroke was delivered but he could not remember making the cry. Fay said in an interview Friday that a prison officer stood beside him and guided him through the ordeal saying: "OK, Michael, three left; OK, Michael, two left; OK, one more, you're almost done."

In a case likely to cause renewed acrimony between the United States and Singapore, a judge on Tuesday convicted an American scholar and senior executives of a U.S.-owned newspaper of contempt of court for publishing an article critical of the way some Asian governments suppress political opposition. The chief target of the prosecution, university lecturer Christopher Lingle, was fined nearly $7,000 for writing the article, but he is unlikely ever to be punished.

As the Singapore government deliberated the fate of an American youth sentenced to a flogging for vandalism, a Hong Kong teen-ager was sentenced Thursday to twice the punishment, 12 strokes of a rattan cane, for his role in the spray-painting case. Shiu Chi Ho, a 17-year-old 10th-grader, was also sentenced to eight months in jail and a $967 fine after being convicted of four counts of vandalism. His lawyer said he would appeal.

The Singaporean government announced Friday that it is bringing contempt of court charges against an American academic and a U.S.-owned newspaper for publishing an opinion article critical of the human rights records of Asian regimes.

Smiling and waving to the cameras like a celebrity, Michael Fay was released from prison Tuesday after gaining worldwide notoriety as the first American ever flogged in Singapore. "I'm happy to be out," Fay, 19, said after his release. "My health is good. I'm looking forward to the future very much. I'm looking forward to going back to my country."

A court here Thursday rejected an American teen-ager's appeal against a sentence of flogging for spray-painting cars, saying he had pursued a "calculated course of criminal conduct." Without a trace of emotion, Michael Fay, 18, of Dayton, Ohio, was led from the high court by police to begin serving a four-month jail term in the case, which has attracted worldwide attention because of the flogging. Marco Chan, Fay's stepfather, left the court without comment.

As in those melodramatic prison movies of the 1930s, Randy Chan hovers close to a telephone, hoping against hope that she will receive the call informing her that her son, Michael P. Fay, has miraculously won a reprieve. The phone rings almost constantly in the Chans' comfortable condominium here. But it is not the Singapore government calling.

"Singapore is one of the safest countries in the world," wrote Keith Kimball of Vallejo, Calif., in a letter to Secretary of State Warren Christopher. "We should have those tough kinds of punishment in America." A Singapore court's decision to sentence an American teen-ager to a flogging for spray-painting cars has produced a predictable nod of approval from many Singaporeans, long accustomed to their government's firm hand.

A war of words between the United States and Singapore over the sentencing of an American teen-ager to a flogging for vandalism heightened Tuesday with the government here disputing President Clinton's comments on the case. The teen-ager, Michael P. Fay of Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced last week to six strokes of a rattan cane and four months in prison after pleading guilty to two charges of spray-painting cars, two counts of mischief and possessing stolen property. He was also fined $2,230.

Despite a decision by the government here to reduce the flogging sentence against an American teen-ager by two lashes as a gesture to President Clinton, the White House on Wednesday expressed disapproval, and the youth's mother said the punishment is still torture. "We're disappointed," White House spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers said after the Singaporean decision to proceed with the caning of Michael P.

Christopher Lingle, the latest American to run afoul of Singapore's government, said Monday that it is impossible for him to return to his teaching job at Singapore's National University after being investigated by police for an article he contributed to a newspaper. "I think Americans have an instinctive acceptance of freedom of expression, whether it be academic freedom or freedom of the press, and I view this issue along those lines," Lingle said in a telephone interview from Atlanta.

The father of an American youth arrested last year for vandalism and mischief was fined Friday for using abusive language against a policeman, a university lecturer and a condominium resident. Prosecutors decided not to proceed on two charges of assault. Robert Freehill, 51, a company regional director, was sentenced to a $2,500 fine or 10 weeks in jail. He paid the fine. The court returned his confiscated passport.

Just as the furor over the flogging of American teen-ager Michael Fay had begun to fade, the government here has confronted the Clinton Administration with a new controversy: A 51-year-old American businessman has been prevented from leaving this country after being charged with various offenses, from using abusive language to assault.

Michael Fay, the U.S. teen-ager who was caned in Singapore for vandalism, said prison officials told him he shouted "I'm dying!" when the first stroke was delivered but he could not remember making the cry. Fay said in an interview Friday that a prison officer stood beside him and guided him through the ordeal saying: "OK, Michael, three left; OK, Michael, two left; OK, one more, you're almost done."

Smiling and waving to the cameras like a celebrity, Michael Fay was released from prison Tuesday after gaining worldwide notoriety as the first American ever flogged in Singapore. "I'm happy to be out," Fay, 19, said after his release. "My health is good. I'm looking forward to the future very much. I'm looking forward to going back to my country."

Michael P. Fay, the American teen-ager who became the focus of a worldwide debate about crime and punishment when he was sentenced to be caned for vandalism, is being released from prison today. Fay is being turned loose early from his four-month prison sentence because of good behavior. In March, he was sentenced to jail, six strokes with a rattan cane and a $2,230 fine after pleading guilty to spray-painting cars and other acts of mischief.

The father of an American youth arrested last year for vandalism and mischief was fined Friday for using abusive language against a policeman, a university lecturer and a condominium resident. Prosecutors decided not to proceed on two charges of assault. Robert Freehill, 51, a company regional director, was sentenced to a $2,500 fine or 10 weeks in jail. He paid the fine. The court returned his confiscated passport.

In a case likely to cause renewed acrimony between the United States and Singapore, a judge on Tuesday convicted an American scholar and senior executives of a U.S.-owned newspaper of contempt of court for publishing an article critical of the way some Asian governments suppress political opposition. The chief target of the prosecution, university lecturer Christopher Lingle, was fined nearly $7,000 for writing the article, but he is unlikely ever to be punished.

The government dropped vandalism charges Tuesday against a second U.S. teen-ager accused of spray-painting cars, sparing him the kind of flogging meted out to an Ohio youth two weeks ago. Instead, 17-year-old Stephen P. Freehill of Chicago pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of possessing stolen property and was fined $520 by District Court Judge Khoo Oon Soo.

Singapore's government said early today that it had reprimanded two U.S. diplomats because of what it termed "false reports" about how much American teen-ager Michael P. Fay suffered during a flogging for vandalism. The two-month controversy about the Fay case, which has strained relations between the United States and one of its longtime allies, blossomed into a full-fledged war of words over news reports that the youth had been "bloodied" by the punishment.