One of the more controversial punishments still practiced today in Brunei is whipping (also known as caning in Singapore). We retain this form of punishment with our neighbours, Malaysia and Singapore as as a legacy from Britain. Another legacy is capital punishment by hanging though in Brunei no convict has been hanged for over 10 years. The British have of course practically banished such punishments from its statute books deeming them "cruel".
In Brunei, whipping is imposed as a mandatory sentence for a number of offences such as drug trafficking, robbery and rape. Some offences provide for a minimum number of strokes to be imposed, for example, in the case aggravated rape a minimum of 12 strokes is mandated. The maximum number of strokes to which an adult offender may be sentenced is 24. All the lashes will be inflicted in one session subject to any medical advice to the contrary. Ouch!
Some people cannot be whipped. Women, males sentenced to death and males over 50 are excluded.
From time to time, the Prison Department holds demonstrations in schools on how whipping is conducted. The responsible prison officer half spins as if he is hitting a baseball and lashes the half inch in diameter rattan on the bare buttocks of the convict (a mannequin in this case) with all his might. It sounds like thunder. Something certainly not forgotten in a hurry by the shocked audience.
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