Foreign justice--or injustice?

• Author: Cohen, Randy
• Position: THE ETHICIST: Life's full of questions, he's got answers

Two years ago, I lived in Singapore, and my apartment was robbed. When I returned recently, I learned that the robber was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 10 strokes of the cane. The sentence seems excessive and the caning barbaric. I want to appear for mercy on his behalf, but must I accept Singaporean justice? DAVID J. POWELL, EAST GRANBY, CONN.

NO, YOU MUSN'T. You don't abandon moral reason when you leave home. Keeping silent is not a sign of respect: You should appeal, for justice. Do so with civility, and with knowledge of local, history and values. You might also appeal. through local reform groups.

Such appeals cut both ways. One hundred and fifty years ago, Europeans criticized America's stave owning and, more recently, our treatment of prisoners. It can be instructive to have one's conduct examined from another perspective.

To afford to start a new business, I must use low-cost foreign manufacturers, some of whom likely maintain unsafe working conditions. In this particular country, many workers doing the tasks I'll require receive tow wages and face serious hearth problems, intruding chronic colds, fever, stomach disorders, chest pains, and tuberculosis. Is it wrong to start my business in this way? NAME WITH HELD, NEW YORK

YES. It is your moral. obligation to see that those who work for you even indirectly--those from whose labor you profit--receive decent treatment. White wages and working conditions vary internationally, nobody's idea of "decent" encompasses "chronic colds, fever, stomach disorders, chest pains, and tuberculosis," even in...