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In a letter to David Hawker, the Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives in Canberra Abdullah Tarmugi, the Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore, wrote: "He was caught in possession of almost 400 g of pure heroin, enough for more than 26,000 doses of heroin for drug addicts. He knew what he was doing and the consequences of his actions." Speaking on behalf of the Singapore Government, Tarmugi said: "We are unable to condone Mr Nguyen's actions. As representatives of the people, we have an obligation to protect the lives of those who could be ruined by the drugs he was carrying."
"We cannot allow Singapore to be used as a transit for illicit drugs in the region," Tarmugi wrote to Australian MPs. "We know this is a painful and difficult decision for Mr Nguyen's family to accept, but we hope you and your colleagues will understand our position. As a transportation hub, Singapore has always been a potential transit point for Golden Triangle heroin. In an opinion piece in the Singapore's High Commissioner in Australia, Joseph Koh, argued that "Singapore cannot afford to pull back from its tough drug trafficking position".