Edited sentence: An unsuccessful appeal for clemency was made, by Australian Prime Minister John Howard and the execution took place as scheduled.On December 2, 2005, Singapore hanged Nguyen Tuong Van, an Austrlian, of Vietnamese origin, for the possession of 396.2 grams of heroin.The build-up to his execution saw much opposition, from the international community, to the harsh punishment, particulary from the Australian public.This has served to raise awareness of Singapore's draconian laws and brought much criticism with it