The BBC reports two German men have been sentenced to three strokes of a cane and nine months in jail in Singapore for vandalism and trespassing. Andreas Von Knorre 22 and Elton Hinz 21 pleaded guilty to entering a train depot and spraying graffiti on a train.

They had arrived in Singapore from Australia in November last year and vandalized the train during their stay. They then moved on to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia but were tracked down by Singapore police and brought back for trial.

Having lived in Singapore on and off for a number of years I can tell you that one of the best things about the place is the lack of graffiti and other forms of vandalism. And its disappointing to see when these kind of crimes occur the guilty party is frequently someone entering Singapore from our more Westernised cultures.

Meanwhile in NZ-

Isaac Campbell, 18, who was involved in an “alcohol-fuelled night of offending” when he smashed up a police station and held up a service station has been sentenced.

About 5am on October 8, Campbell, with co-offenders Tukutahi Pokaia-Hakaraia and Jade Lawton, went to the Mobil service station on Rangitikei St, wearing bandannas. Lawton pulled out a tomahawk, and waved it at the attendant, who was “frogmarched” over to the till and forced to open it, and $726 was taken.

Campbell also grabbed a guide dog collection box off the counter, with more than $100 inside, before fleeing. The collection box was recovered, but the money was not.

About seven hours earlier, Campbell had been part of a group of youths who had vandalised and thrown rocks at the Highbury police station, after police shut down a party. They smashed 19 windows, damaged three roller doors and tagged obscenities on the walls, causing more than $8500 damage.

Campbell was sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday to 12 months’ home detention, 150 hours’ community work and ordered to pay $242 reparation, having pleaded guilty to intentional damage and aggravated robbery.

NZ along with Australia are two of the worst places in the developed world for crime. Justice systems in the West are a joke. Our punishments are ineffective and judges will not do their job.