page_title: Caning in Singapore
section_title: Parental caning
hierarchical_section_title: Caning in Singapore / Parental caning
caption_attribution_description: English: Rattan canes sold in Singapore
context_page_description: Caning is a widely used form of corporal punishment in Singapore. It can be divided into several contexts: judicial, prison, reformatory, military, school, and domestic. These practices of caning are largely a legacy of British colonial rule in Singapore. Similar forms of corporal punishment are also used in some other former British colonies, including two of Singapore's neighbouring countries, Malaysia and Brunei.
  Of these, judicial caning is the most severe. It is applicable to only male convicts under the age of 50 for a wide range of offences under the Criminal Procedure Code. Always ordered in addition to a prison sentence, it is inflicted with a long and thick rattan cane on the prisoner's bare buttocks in an enclosed area in the prison. Male criminals who were not sentenced to caning earlier in a court of law may also be punished by caning in the same way if they commit aggravated offences while serving time in prison. Similarly, juvenile delinquents in reformatories may be punished by caning for serious offences.
context_section_description: Caning is also meted out on children (both boys and girls) by their parents as punishment for offences like poor/imperfect results, disrespect, disobedience, incomplete work, lying, and trying to escape caning.
  The misbehaving child is usually caned on the buttocks or palm of the hand. Sometimes, the cane will miss and hit the thighs/calves, causing more pain.
  The caning usually leaves the child with painful red welts that will fade within days.
  The most commonly used implement is the rattan cane, commonly and cheaply found (for around 50 Singapore cents) in neighbourhood provision shops. There is usually higher demand when students prepare for examinations, and the cane will be used more often, resulting in breakages. Sometimes, parents will use other implements such as the rattan handle of a feather-duster, rulers, clothes hangers, or even their bare hands.
  This form of punishment is legal in Singapore, but not particularly encouraged by the authorities, and parents are likely to be charged with child abuse if the child is injured.
  According to a survey conducted by The Sunday Times in January 2009, 57 percent of surveyed parents said that caning was an acceptable form of punishment and they had used it on their children. A newer study conducted by YouGov in 2019 found that nearly 80 percent of parents in Singapore had carried/carries out corporal punishment at home.
caption: Canes sold in grocery stores, used by parents to discipline children at home
exif: {}