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Frank Fleisher wrote:
>How true. But if you are caught farting in public, they throw you
>in the slammer for 10 years.
Actually, that's not the case at all. I farted in public all the
time in Singapore and never had a problem. The police didn't care.
Seriously. :-)
Hearing the stories and being there are two different realities.
Singapore is about as Western as an Asian country could ever get.
Singaporeans joke about their own laws (you can even buy T-shirts
parodying them). You'll hear a Singaporean describe some obscure
violation and the fine, and always conclude "Singapore is such a
fine city" with a smile and a wink. Most punishments are steep
fines -- for example, the government recently quarantined a few
individuals exposed to SARS, with a fine as punishment for breaking
quarantine. Littering, jaywalking (rarely enforced), having sex in
public, etc. -- all fines.
However, the point that everyone seems to miss is that the
sensationalized sentences (like the Michael Faye caning, who in
my opinion deserved it) are handed out for ACTS THAT YOU OR I OR
ANY NORMAL PERSON WOULDN'T COMMIT. I don't go around vandalizing
property, dealing drugs, committing armed robbery, recklessly
endangering other drivers, and so on, and neither do you. I don't
even litter in my *own* country; why would I do so anywhere else?
The point is, the laws and penalties there are designed specifically
for those who deliberately run afoul of them, not for regular
people who are normally law-abiding. Their legal system is very
similar to the UK's (they were a British territory up to the 1950s)
so anyone can have their day in court, which can be expected to
be as fair and impartial as any in the UK.
The punishments may be harsher, but who's to say that's a problem?
They don't have problems with murders, vandalism, drug dealing,
etc. like other developed countries do, so they're obviously doing
something right.
-Alex
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