COMMENT Yesterday, a mother went shopping for her son; but unlike the usual shopping treat, this mother went to purchase a set of new clothes that her son would wear when he hung from a noose.

Come dawn this Friday, Sarawakian Kho Jabing will face the gallows in Singapore. This, though, need not be an end to his life if the powers-that-be heed the cry of anti-death penalty advocates calling for a stay on his execution.