Daniel Chan Chi-pun (陳誌文/陈志文; 1 January 1957 – 10 March 1995) was a Hongkonger charged with trafficking 464 grams of heroin on 20 November 1990. Chan was said to have smuggled the drugs in return for money to pay for the treatment to cure his son's blindness. Chan, however, denied knowing that he was carrying heroin and even claimed it was someone else who passed the vest to him at the airport before he was arrested.
Subsequently, Chan's defences were not accepted, and he was sentenced to death on 8 May 1993 for heroin trafficking, and he lost his appeal in February of the following year. Chan was initially scheduled to hang on 25 November 1994, but he obtained a stay of execution after requesting for more time to make a personal petition for clemency. In spite of the international pleas from human rights groups and the British Hong Kong government to spare Chan's life, clemency was ultimately denied by the Singapore government, and Chan was hanged at the age of 38 on 10 March 1995.
Background
Born in British Hong Kong in 1957, Daniel Chan Chi-pun was the only son of his family, who were Christians. His father worked as a school principal, and Chan himself worked as a diamond-cutter and security guard after reaching adulthood and completing his schooling.
During his adulthood, Chan married a woman named Chan Sok Lim, and together, they had a son, who was born blind. From her first marriage to an unnamed male, Chan's wife had one son, who became Chan's step-son after he married the boy's mother. According to Chan's wife, Chan was a loving and caring husband, and also a good father to his son, and also loved his step-son just as much.
Drug trafficking charge
While in Hong Kong, Daniel Chan was approached by a colleague from his workplace, who assured him there was a way to earn 'pennies from heaven' to seek treatment for his blind son, which was to import drugs. The colleague additionally claimed that there were good doctors abroad who would help the little boy to recover his eyesight. Although Chan did not agree to the colleague's offer to traffic drugs initially, he later conceded and agreed after much persuasion.
Per the pre-planned offer, Chan would go to Toronto, Canada from Phuket, Thailand via transit to Singapore to deliver some drugs, in return for HK$80,000. Chan was given a vest, which he was caught wearing when he arrived in Singapore at Changi Airport on 20 November 1990. The customs officers searched Chan after noticing his suspicious behaviour, and they found 16 packets of heroin strapped to his vest. The total amount of heroin in the packages weighed 464 grams, which was nearly 31 times the minimum amount of 15g, which mandated the death sentence under the Misuse of Drugs Act in Singapore. The drugs themselves had a market worth of S$1.6 million. Chan was formally charged with drug trafficking on 21 November 1990.
It was reported that soon after the arrest of her only son, Chan's mother committed suicide by hanging herself. Although the exact cause of death was not relayed to Chan, Chan was nonetheless devastated to hear about his mother's death.
Death penalty trial
Chan stood trial on 28 April 1993. His lawyer was Spencer Gwee, a former prosecutor who turned to private practice. Both Lee Sing Lit and Leong Wing Tuck were assigned to prosecute Chan for drug trafficking, and the trial judge was Judicial Commissioner Kan Ting Chiu.
Initially, in his police statements, Chan admitted that he was told to import heroin into Canada from Thailand for a payment of HK$80,000. In court however, Chan stated that he was unaware of the heroin in his possession. Chan claimed that the vest did not belong to him, because it was given to him by a stranger when he first arrived in Singapore, and he wore it after the man requested him to do so, and t happened that the vest itself was strapped with these packages without his notice. The claims Chan made in court formed the main lines of his defence.