Family can’t watch Better Man drama
The family of Van Tuong Nguyen is upset at SBS making a miniseries about his 2005 execution in SIngapore.
- Published by David Knox
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The family of Van Tuong Nguyen, who was executed in Singapore in 2005, has spoken about their distress at the SBS miniseries, Better Man.
A statement from mother Kim Nguyen was read on her behalf by Speaker of the House Anna Burke to ABC Radio’s Jon Faine. The statement was written to director Khoa Do.
“Know the truth. Understand what is right and wrong. In writing a short story, like you did, you touched our family’s wounds once again,” the statement said.
“Don’t do it for your personal benefit. You haven’t had enough understanding of a parents’ responsibility.
“You are not much older than my kid. Do you know what really happened? All you could do is listen to other people’s gossip. You have violated our rights and made our family’s life so difficult,” she read.
“All you can do is listen to other people’s gossip and write a story as a director.
“You must understand the law. You have violated our rights. You have made our family’s lives so difficult.”
SBS issued a statement saying, “We understand that the airing of Better Man will be an incredibly difficult and emotional time for the Nguyen family.
”SBS and director Khoa Do felt it was an important Australian story to tell, particularly in the context of ongoing international debate about capital punishment laws.”
The miniseries takes a sympathetic view of Van Nguyen, dramatising how he came to be involved in heroin trafficking within the context of family circumstance.
SBS said the drama series contained disclaimers in English and Vietnamese stating that the family did not directly participate in its making.
Source: ABC, The Australian, The Age.
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14 Responses
Of all the commissioned drama SBS could have chosen to make in the last three years it has chosen one of the most emotionally charged and politically fraught stories of recent times. That said, it doesn’t seemed to have managed the process very well. The stakes are high for SBS – they should be basking in a bit of glory this week – not mired in this controversy.
From the reviews, it seems like an honest portrayal of the man rather than painting him as some kind of hero. I think that’s the main reason why some people who were close to him are upset.
This is not a case of freedom of speech. A filmmaker and a government broadcaster has proceeded to recreate a story without the consent of the family involved. They are still grieving and innocent victims of this terrible story. There is a big difference between dramatizing an event loosely based on this experience and a recreated dramatization based upon a family and real events. It shows an incredible level of insensitivity by a public broadcaster and the public interest argument does not transcend this. Good on the family for taking this issue into the public domain.
@Alvar
Without the backing of the law such restrictions would be meaningless. And if the law is involved then anybody could stop a movie or a book or journalistic reporting just because it suits their interests to do so.
The wealthy and powerful would be able to get away with whatever they want because they would intimidate people into silence with threats of lawsuits.
Australia does have some implied freedom of speech but defamation, privacy, hate speech laws and bills of rights are being increased all the time with the idea of restricting it.
There is a backlash starting though, Britain as added more truth defenses to defamation laws and
Canadia is repealing its federal criminal hate speech laws.
@nevothirty, we do have freedom of speech in Australia. The freedom of political communication was implied into the Australian constitution in ACTV v Commonwealth.
I sympathise with the Nguyen family, but by all accounts, Khoa Do genuinely believes it is an important story to tell and does the story justice.
Drug courier in S’pore…..zero sympathy
Bali mob, drug runners…..no sympathy
The full force of the law/penal system……give it to them
What happened, happened.
@nevothirty – Australia should dictate to other countries what they can and can’t do? Tried that. But it’s an absurd hypothesis. Would we accept Singapore telling us we have to jail litterbugs.
As for serving their sentence in Australia, why should Australia pay for their prison accommodation?
@alvar Why wouldn’t they be allowed? Especially if it’s in the public interest.
I have no sympathy. This was a public case outside of the Australian judicial system. I say its a free for all.
One thing I will say though is that Yes when an aussie breaks the law over seas they should be tried and convicted there, then returned home to do their sentence in Australia, the Australian government should also make it clear that no Australian can or will be sentenced to death, because we do not have such penalties here in Australia.
is there another way to look at a drug smuggler?
What really happened? He got busted smuggling heroin in a country that carries the death penalty for doing so.
He would have known the risks.
@pertinax we don’t have freedom of speech in Australian, that’s an American right.
I’m surprised networks are allowed to produce telemovies/documentaries without obtaining permission from the people/families depicted…
Does it matter if they take a sympathetic view or not?
Once again you have people making totally bogus claims about the law trying to control what other people say. And politicians supporting this for the own ends and undermining real rights like freedom os speech and freedom of artistic expression.