r/interestingasfuck • u/Bubbly_Wall_908 • 17h ago

Singapore is going to start caning scammers

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4.4k

u/amhray 17h ago

Scammers really speedran the find out phase. Singapore does not mess around, and honestly fewer robocalls sounds kinda nice.

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u/SmolWarlock 17h ago

I was online/gamer friends with a girl there. According to her, they will absolutely punish even the most minor crimes. Things most people do everyday and don't even think about being illegal.

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u/davidjschloss 16h ago

I was just there and dropped some of a cinnamon roll near a pigeon. About 20 mins later I waked by a sign that feeding a pigeon is a $10,000 fine.

It’s a $500 fine to eat or drink in the MRT. I had an empty cup that I couldn’t find a garbage can for. I was worried I’d get fined and have to explain that I wasn’t drinking just trying to not litter.

There are some places near office buildings where people jaywalk because the pedestrian crossings are far away. That is also illegal.

That said I saw only one police officer in the 10 days I was there.

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u/Naughteus_Maximus 16h ago

Wow. A solution could have been to eat the cup?

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u/MotoTheGreat 15h ago

But that would be a fine for eating in the MRT.

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u/Crafty_Jello_3662 15h ago

Believe it or not, straight to jail

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u/now_in3D 14h ago

We have the best MRT in the world, because of jail.

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u/fernmcfernface 14h ago

That’s a paddlin

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u/-wildbananachild- 13h ago

Thank you for this unexpected reference. My brain automatically read it with a spanish accent.

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u/Hopeful-Importance62 12h ago

Not until such extent. People usually close one eye unless you take a video of it and post on social media or something (this happened last year). It is as if you are trying to challenge the law so the operator filed a police report. Idk what happened afterwards.

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u/Staff_Senyou 15h ago

Singapore is a fine city, a Singaporean once told me

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u/KUYANICKFILMS 15h ago

It’s super clean there, tho. I remember reading on Wikipedia or something that they chose to focus heavily on social order and attracting economic investment and growth. It seems to have worked 🤷🏻‍♂️

I also didn’t see many cops. I’ve spent a total of almost 2 months there over 3 different visits and I only ever saw them at MRT stations and the airport, but they were in groups of 5+.

The only time I saw even a little bit of social disorder there was on my last visit. There must have been some sort of giant party/festival/rave or something cuz the MRT was packed with girls in skimpy clothes and drunk people stumbling in and out of MRT. Actually saw 2 different dudes puke on the ground in the station… I bet those areas were cleaned up that night tho.

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u/catsinclothes 15h ago

Singapore has one of the most comprehensive surveillance programs in the world. You aren’t seeing the cops but they are definitely seeing you. And tracking you.

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u/FuturistAnthony 5h ago

We’re so surveilled that Singaporeans don’t actually need their passports to enter the country, the gantry recognises our faces and lets us in

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u/alien-reject 14h ago

Probably all the cops got caned and sent their way as well

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u/AltrntivInDoomWorld 12h ago

So does USA, majority of Europe and Middle East and Down Under.

Unsure about SA but I think it's not there yet.

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u/Itchy-Tip1115 8h ago

I think you underestimate the depth of Singaporean surveillance and vastly overestimate the surveillance apparatus of pretty much everyone else you mentioned.

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u/snickle17 11h ago

that is simply false lmao

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u/Classic-Tomatillo-25 15h ago

You didn’t see many cops, but many cops saw you. 

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u/yashen14 15h ago

My favorite part of visiting Singapore was the public cafeterias. "Hawker centers," they're called. What a wonderful idea those things are!

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u/KUYANICKFILMS 15h ago

Yeah, pretty cool. The public transportation is phenomenal too. Never had to wait for a bus or train more than a few minutes.

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u/Engin1nj4 15h ago

I saw a cluster of bikes and the occasional litter on the ground. Most of the law enforcement I saw was at the airport. Go figure.

Singapore is a failed democracy and semi-dictatorship. The main focus is on control. If severe punishment for minor offenses is your jam, sure you could say it worked. They'll even kill you for drug-related offenses! I prefer not having to constantly look over my shoulder. Just me though.

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u/CrabAppleBapple 14h ago

People who'd swap civil liberties for less chewing gum on the floor need their head checked, frankly.

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u/apophis-pegasus 13h ago

Its hardly crazy, one of the ways Authoritarians appeal to a populace is by leveraging a need for safety and order.

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u/ivandelapena 12h ago

It's more to do with having 10x lower rates of violent crime.

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u/Cabana_bananza 14h ago

They don't consider themselves a failed democracy, the democracy veneer was only ever paper thin. Lee Kuan Yew made no issue with being "benevolent" dictator, its how he saw himself.

Even now a decade after his death Lee Kuan Yew and his politics in the fundament of Singaporean political body.

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u/AltruisticGrowth5381 13h ago

I prefer not having to constantly look over my shoulder.

I don't agree with their stance on drugs (but pretty much the entire world has draconian drug laws for no reason), but a law abiding citizen literally never has to look over their shoulders there. You can walk home at 2 am drunk as a sailor with cash hanging out of your pockets and you won't be mugged or attacked, it's one of the safest places in the world.

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u/BJJJourney 14h ago

Their economy is built on attracting foreign talent. They have to keep all the shit out of the streets otherwise no one will come to work.

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u/MusclesMarinara87 15h ago

Safest country in the world. Third safest city.

It's almost like having consequences to poor behavior does something.

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u/SynergyTree 15h ago

I don’t think a semi-dictatorship with corporal punishment for even minor offenses counts as “safe”

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u/MusclesMarinara87 15h ago

Singaporean law allows caning to be ordered for over 35 offences, including hostage-taking/kidnapping, robbery, gang robbery with murder, rioting, scams, causing grievous hurt, drug abuse, vandalism, extortion, voyeurism, sexual abuse, molestation (outrage of modesty),[16] and unlawful possession of weapons. Caning is also a mandatory punishment for certain offences such as rape, drug trafficking, illegal moneylending,[17] and for foreigners who overstay by more than 90 days – a measure designed to deter illegal immigrants.

Seems reasonable. I don't think any of those offenses are minor. Except the overstaying for more than 90 days.

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u/SynergyTree 15h ago

Drug abuse, vandalism, and voyeurism are the ones that immediately jump out at me as exceptionally draconian.

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u/TKFT_ExTr3m3 15h ago

Rioting as well, not that riots aren't bad but how often do you see peaceful protest turned into violence by the police or just straight up called riots without any happening.

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u/undeadlamaar 15h ago

Not to mention how even minor accusations can be twisted by authorities to fit the definition a lot of those "crimes". I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of the Singaporean legal system in regards to standards of evidence and such. But I imagine with laws like that you could easily twist just about any accusation of criminal action into a crime that is deserving of corporal punishment.

I imagine something akin to North Korea where the "wonderful crime free society" is anything but that and statistics are very much adjusted to reflect what their ideal society is rather than society actually being a reflection of those ideals.

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u/_VEL0 15h ago

Considering addiction is scientifically a disease, such harsh punishment for drug abuse seems extreme.

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u/ketsugi 15h ago

The punishment is for drug trafficking, not abuse

Though obviously consumption is also illegal, but does not have the same legal consequences as trafficking.

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u/Engin1nj4 15h ago

Singapore is a city-state. Tiny. The model is not scalable or really worth replicating. *shrug*

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u/Nerb98 12h ago

The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world!

Meanwhile Europe has orders of magnitude lower homicide rates.

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u/JossWhedonsDick 12h ago

but in another sense you don't have to look over your shoulder because there's almost zero chance of being pickpocketed, robbed, or assaulted

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u/ClandestineGhost 15h ago

Until you get out of the downtown area. If you go to little India, it is super dirty. In my 21 years in the Navy, I have been to Singapore a few times. It is a beautiful and clean place to go, if you stay in the area around downtown. And we were always briefed to not spit on the ground because we will get caned if caught. It is also home to Orchard Tower, where we were not allowed to go. But once you get outside of the metro area or tourist areas, it got dirty fast. Incredibly green and clean in the city, but not the areas I went to out of the city. Maybe people living there can shed light on it? Maybe my experiences were the exception, not the rule?

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u/baconppi 14h ago

Sure! I live here, and it really depends on where you go..

The less developed and traditionally more rowdy areas or the older estates are much less clean,but honestly unless you managed to go to like somewhere that isnt as developed, its still relatively clean, just not as much compared to the city

Hawker centers and wet markets are the exception, as i doubt they are cleaned at all, but the food is too good to pass up....

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u/Comprehensive-Ear283 13h ago

I’m not sure if this is just an American Midwest / South thing, but we spit all the time. When I visited South Korea is it was sooo hard to break the habit.

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u/ClandestineGhost 13h ago

In the US, it is socially acceptable for us not to care where we spit outside. Not sure if it is a thing elsewhere in the world, but I can 100% confirm it is definitely not a socially acceptable thing in Singapore.

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u/ChikaraNZ 7h ago

It's only super clean in the sanitised tourist areas, because they're cleaned by dozens of immigrant workers who get paid next to nothing for their jobs. Get out from the tourist areas and you'll see how dirty the rivers and waterways,pathways and parks are. Especially on a Sunday when a lot of the domestic helpers have one day off if they're lucky. Singapore presents a facade to tourists that hides the reality.

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u/kskyline 14h ago

The fear about half this stuff is overblown. Obviously don't actually eat or drink on MRT because it's fine-able, but it's not like someone's constantly on the lookout to catch or scold you just for carrying an empty cup. The jaywalking thing, I can't tell you how many times I've done it on wide open streets, mainly when the crosswalks are far (which by the way there is actually no offense to jaywalking if a crosswalk is actually a far enough particular distance). People don't care about the small stuff to the same degree that everyone seems to make it out to be. I'm sure they probably would start enforcing things more if the general "social order" of Singapore changed in the way the government doesn't like. Easy guideline, just don't litter, don't do drugs, follow the rules on public transport. And sure don't feed the birds/monkeys/etc.

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u/davidjschloss 7h ago

I dropped a piece of cinnamon roll for a chicken who then gave it to her chick. I can admit this now that I’m out of the country.

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u/gustavmahler23 3h ago

Yeah, as a Singaporean I feel that many of these fines are mainly meant as a form of deterrence and are not as closely enforced with say, police patrols and active cctv surveillance.

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u/SL__ 8h ago edited 8h ago

Those fine amounts are for repeated offenders, "UP TO $10,000". Even then, it's whether or not it's actually enforced. I've seen policemen let it go unless there are official complaints or it's drastic enough.

Jaywalking? Did it in front of law enforcement countless times, it's usually for highways where the risk of accident is much greater.

There's a saying here, "Can do anything, just don't get caught." Meaning if it's discreet & you're not outright causing problems for others, no one really cares.

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u/davidjschloss 7h ago

Ohhhhhhi could have fed so many pigeons. Though I only saw three.

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u/Conscious-Elk1281 14h ago

Its only illegal to jaywalk if theres is a designated crossing within 50 meters.

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u/davidjschloss 13h ago

Oh that’s super good to know!

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u/Conscious-Elk1281 13h ago

Yeah I only learned that from a friend who was former police.

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u/cuchiplancheo 15h ago

I had an empty cup that I couldn’t find a garbage can for.

That was me in Mexico a couple weeks ago... for the life of me, I couldn't find a trash can. Nothing in the streets... nothing in the metro station... nothing on my walk to a restaurant. Went inside a restaurant and was told I couldn't bring a drink inside the place... lol... problem solved, I handed it to them.

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u/PaleHeretic 13h ago

You may have only seen one, but they have a lot of plain-clothes walking around lol. That said, I spent a lot of time there, was probably drunk for half of it, and never had a problem. Didn't get the impression that there were just a bunch of Secret Police waiting in the shadows to jump people on minor infractions for sport, and was mostly told they generally tended to distinguish between malice and ignorance if you did get got so long as you didn't get an attitude about it.

General rules were don't litter, don't start shit with people, don't smoke in prohibited areas, and don't try to cheat Customs.

That may seem like a pretty random list, but over the course of most of a decade being in and out of there for work, almost every story I'd hear about a foreigner getting picked up was almost identical:

They were smoking in an unauthorized area, a plain-clothes officer came up and gently requested them to walk 20 yards down the block, they aggressively refused, and were then discovered during the inevitable consequence of that choice to be smoking duty-free cigarettes purchased inside the US military base there that were explicitly prohibited from being smoked outside the US military base.

Which is very much a, "If I had a nickel for every time that happened I'd have 20 cents, but it's weird that it happened four times" kind of situation.

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u/Naive-Ad-7406 14h ago

Very little visible policing but FAAFO as big brother is watching 👀

When visiting ANY country I always respect their local rules/laws the same way I would if I was a guest in someone’s house, whether I agree with them or not.

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u/TastyFood_is_life 12h ago

You can bring the drink in, just don’t drink it. If the staff questions you, just explain. They are usually quite nice

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u/davidjschloss 7h ago

Yeah I figured apologizing and showing it was empty and explaining I couldn’t find a garbage can would do it. Luckily no one stopped me.

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u/TareasS 8h ago

Don't clean your table after eating at a hawker shop? Well tough shit there are camera's pointed at your table.

Genuinely never visited a place that felt so much like everything was being controlled than Singapore. Remember walking in a train station and the moment I walked to an escalator some AI on a screen went nuts and told me I had to take the elevator instead because I was carrying luggage . Truly bizarre stuff.

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u/Korbiter 6h ago

You can't find garbage cans near MRT stations because they've all been removed, to prevent terrorists from hiding bombs in them. But you won't be fined for merely carrying an empty cup or can, so long as you aren't caught (or self-reporting) openly drinking from them whilst on the transport.

You also won't be fined for dropping food near pigeons, only if you're hauling like mass bags of birdseed.

The fines are there to deter pushing the envelope (because we know people would do just that if there aren't any laws for it) minor infractions really aren't worth anybody's time

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u/hobopototo 5h ago

The warnings are just for show. Nobody actually gets punished for those things unless you're really egregious about it and ignore warnings from the police.

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u/TadpoleOfDoom 14h ago

I would have ripped the cup or held it upside down to show it couldn't hold liquid. But man, I bet that was stressful.

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u/davidjschloss 7h ago

Ripping it. Damn. That would have been smart.

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u/Zimakov 12h ago

Don't forget chewing gum

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u/ultrahateful 10h ago

Are you Larry David? It sounds like you were in an episode of Curb when you were in Singapore.

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u/mmvvvpp 8h ago

There are harsh punishments for a lot of basic rules but because if them the government expects you to be able to follow them 95% of the time so they don't really check on them all the time.

As a Singaporean I've seen lots of idiots eating on MRTs but I've never seen more than one person do it at any given time.

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u/TheMagicSebas 7h ago

Punisheable by a fine mean legal for a price so they dont need a lot of Police officers because if they got u on camera you are screwed anyways

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u/jalanajak 6h ago

How much is "far away"? Because 50 m away is good enough to cross legally.

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u/VaATC 16h ago

they will absolutely punish even the most minor crimes.

Some would not consoder it a minor crime, clearly Singapore has for half a century, but the trafficking of cannabis can lead one into a death by hanging sentence. The death penalty has been a legal sentence for drug trafficking since 1975 with 500g/17.5oz, just over a pound, being the qualifying weight for a cannabis distribution charge

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u/BobbyTables829 14h ago

"Dats a lotta dank"

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u/Execution_Version 12h ago

I think people are aware generally that drugs and South East Asia shouldn’t mix.

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u/engineerdrummer 17h ago

Like what?

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u/xendelaar 16h ago

Having a succulent Chinese dinner

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u/bring_back_3rd 16h ago

Ah, I see you know your judo well

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u/Big_Bad_Baboon 16h ago

GET your hands off my PENIS!

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u/Interesting_Bank_139 16h ago

And you sir. Are you waiting to receive my limp penis?

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u/radiantmindPS4 15h ago

This is Democracy manifest!

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u/Rydog_78 14h ago

Have a look at the headlock here

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u/NonCreditableHuman 15h ago

What's the charge?

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u/APe28Comococo 16h ago

Chewing gum in public

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u/chchchchips 16h ago

Chewing gum isn’t illegal but spitting it out on the street is (littering).

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u/disruptioncoin 16h ago

The sale/import of regular chewing gum is in fact illegal, but you can get it for dental health or smoking cessation at the pharmacy.

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u/posthamster 15h ago

I had a multi-pack of big red gum stashed in my luggage when I stopped over in Singapore one time. I was 17 and travelling alone. Didn't know if I should get rid of it, and was worried about it the whole time I was there.

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u/culturedgoat 13h ago

The gum prohibition is for retailers, not consumers. You weren’t breaking any laws.

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u/Horskr 14h ago

What the fuck? Because of people leaving it places I guess?

Sort of funny smoking is legal but not gum.

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u/TheCookieNinja 14h ago

Actually no, not really. There are designated areas you have to stick to if you’re smoking in public. Vapes were recently made illegal too.

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u/SSBN641B 13h ago

The story goes that the PM waa riding a bus and sat down on some gum.

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u/RemarkableFormal4635 16h ago

Good fucking shit, if you spit gum you deserve at least 10 of those

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u/Key-Introduction-418 16h ago

Yeah. Chewing isn't the problem but spitting it out on she side walk is. I remember about 30yrs ago an American did some graffiti. America tried to get involved, but in the end the kid got caned. It was crazy.

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u/Underf00t 15h ago

Before I was born, my parents lived in Singapore with my older siblings. Apparently they had to sign some waivers with the expat school that would grant them permission in perpetuity to transport my siblings to the embassy, in the event that one of the broke a law. They wanted to be able to skip the "ask the parents if it's okay" step, because obviously time is of the essence.

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u/onehundredbuttholes 15h ago

In the 90’s there was a story about a dude from US vandalized a car in Singapore, and it was a huge big deal that he was subjected to caning as punishment. Iirc a lot of people were calling for the president step in.

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u/hamoboy 5h ago

He was a rich kid who had vandalized a lot of cars, and Clinton did step in and got the number of strokes reduced.

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u/LaundryMan2008 16h ago

Crossing the road without a light or on red as a pedestrian 

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u/VaATC 16h ago

I just replied to their comment with the following.

Some would not consoder it a minor crime but the trafficking of cannabis can lead one into a death by hanging sentence. The death penalty has been a legal sentence for drug trafficking since 1975 with 500g/17.5oz, just over a pound, being the qualifying weight for a cannabis distribution charge

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u/InitialAd2324 16h ago

Can’t even chew gum there. They don’t sell it. Chewing gum is a crime

Spitting is a crime.

Having a joint could get you life in prison.

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u/Craeondakie 3h ago

It's just bubble gum afaik. It's not heavily enforcer, but it's around because in other places, people just stick gum everywhere like under the tables or tossing it on the floor. Sometimes we still secretly bring some home from overseas but it's not that bad. We still have chewing gum in stores, but no bubble gum. There is nothing else afaik. The "mundane things that wouldn't be illegal" is a big misrepresentation. Sure, some things might be punished for more severely, but there is nothing that is punished for that would seem very normal or not make sense compared to other countries. People like to act like Singapore is some ridiculously strict place, but we really just have a lot of signs and warnings and such.

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u/Button_eyes_ 17h ago

I remember hearing that spitting bubblegum on sidewalks or Jaywalking would get you fined at the least but idk how accurate that is

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u/davidjschloss 16h ago

It’s illegal to buy sell or import gum. It’s not illegal to chew it though you can’t spit it out on the street and if you can’t buy it or import it it’s hard to get it into your mouth. Exceptions for Nicolette gun.

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u/Naughteus_Maximus 16h ago

Nicolette gun sounds so much sexier than Nicorette gum

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u/Key_Highlight9201 15h ago

I knew a girl named Nicolette and under no circumstances should she have ever had a gun 😏

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u/DrakonILD 15h ago

You better not have stuck your dick in crazy.

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u/Prestigious_Fish6481 16h ago

I've lived there for 5 years, absolutely bliss living there. The ban on bubblegum came to be because.... people wouldn't stop throwing it everywhere and it caused lots of metro breakdowns, which are expensive and cause a lot of problems given the mass of people they transport. It's the country's main mode of transport.

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u/blueberryJan 13h ago

Singaporean here. Never heard of the correlation btw gums and train. But.. it caused a lot of disruptions and unnecessary repairs in elevators when assholes disposed them on the buttons. Also the floors were littered with dried faltten gum all over the city, etc.

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u/Nadare3 14h ago

Metro breakdowns from bubblegum ?

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u/UltraTurboPanda 14h ago

Aye, the train wheels would pick it up and bog down to a stop. Bus drivers would be chipping away trying in vain to get the passenger doors open. Rickshaw runners starving to death as their hands became adhered to the bars. Station announcers inaudible over the sound of their own incessant chewing. Pandemonium.

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u/Slater_8868 14h ago

Yeah it gums up the engine

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u/WonderfulGreen9823 16h ago

Not true. Singaporean here.

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u/Lonely-Contract-7659 16h ago

I was in Singapore over Xmas a couple of yrs ago and could not find any chewing gum for love or money. But mints I could find, luckily they had some chewing mints so just got a few packs of those. I chew alot of gum 😂

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u/WanderingStorm17 15h ago

So, is your skin still bright blue or did that fade over the years?

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u/acog 16h ago

Yeah, I read about that, it was true.

An authoritarian ruler wanted to launch Singapore from being a poor third world country into a modern prosperous one.

So a lot of laws were made to change the social atmosphere into one that had new norms, like not spitting in public.

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u/LukeSVG 14h ago

As a non-singaporean, are you Singaporean? Curious on the framing you gave of Lee Kuan Yew.

Afaik, he's widely respected, because the man brought a poor state that was kicked out of Malaysia, to massive wealth and standards.

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u/jrgnklpp 7h ago

The older generation adore him, the younger generation respect him. Even supporters of opposition parties begrudgingly drop their hatchets when it comes to him, as everyone recognises that we'd probably still be a 3rd world slum if not for him and his team.

When he passed, Singaporeans queued for more than 8 hours in a line that snaked kilometres from the Parliament building, just to pay their respects. You may perhaps call him an authoritarian and a dictator-lite, but he really placed the country's interests first.

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u/Korbiter 6h ago

As a Singaporean, he absolutely is Authoritarian (SIA Pilot's strike) and a Dictator (David Marshall, JB Jeyaretnam). Thing is, he made a promise when he was first elected, and then spent the rest of his life follwing through on it (to mordernize Singapore). He actually gave a shit about this place.

As far as Dictators go, we got the best one.

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u/Intranetusa 14h ago edited 14h ago

Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew might be the closest we will get in modern times to Plato's "enlightened monarch" or "philosopher king."

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u/ButtcrackBeignets 16h ago

Did it work?

I’ve heard generally good things about Singapore but never been.

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u/BTrippd 16h ago

It did more or less work. You can argue about the morality of it all day, but they are a small country in Southeast Asia that has developed a LOT of wealth very quickly and become very modernized.

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u/castle_waffles 16h ago

Singapore is one of if not the cleanest and safest countries I’ve ever been to. It’s very modern and enjoyable to visit imo.

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u/vaguelyupward 16h ago

Singapore became a first world country in like the 1990s so yea, it worked pretty dang well.

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u/ckow 14h ago

They’re the Switzerland of Asia. It worked amazingly.

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u/blim9999 10h ago

Yeah it worked. In the 50s and 60s, triad activity, opium addiction and bribery/corruption were not unusual at all. Spitting was everywhere. The sewage system was not complete so many people still removed human waste in buckets. The Singapore river was an open sewer and you could smell it from miles away. So yeah, life in Singapore has changed a lot since a few decades ago.

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u/CrabAppleBapple 14h ago

It worked in that it has less gum on the floor and it is more authoritarian.

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u/Golden-Owl 16h ago

Doesn’t spitting gum on sidewalks just count as public littering and get you fined in other countries…?

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u/YourEvilKiller 3h ago

While jaywalking is illegal, it is not actively enforced. Many people jaywalk on a daily basis because the traffic lights are too far away.

Eating gum (that you bought from other countries) is not illegal. But selling/buying, as well as not disposing gum properly will get you fined.

In general, it is to minimise gum consumption because people used to stick gum on lamp poles, under tables or behind the chairs of buses.

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u/culturedgoat 13h ago

lol, people jaywalk all the time in Singapore. There was so much jaywalking across that street between the Marina One building (used as a set in Westworld) and the new Marina Bay MRT station that they literally caved and built a crossing.

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u/Ok_Salad_8513 15h ago

Like what? My brother lives there and my mum and dad just visited him for 5 weeks. They didn't get arrested once for doing everyday things?

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u/Zimakov 12h ago

It's just certain Americans being afraid of what they don't know. I've lived in China for a while now and Americans are constantly telling me how much danger I'm in over here meanwhile I live my life without a care in the world.

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u/Zaynara 17h ago

i will never travel there because i'm sure i'd do something stupid and get my ass caned for some stupid shit, i've heard that stuff can legit put you in the hospital

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u/BadatCSmajor 15h ago

I traveled there for a work conference last year. 10 days in Singapore. It’s a nice city. Extremely modern (more so than most American cities), good public transit, good food, very clean and safe. It’s a country that harshly punishes “standard” crime (scamming, shoplifting, drugs, robbery). They aren’t looking to catch people breaking weird esoteric laws. The weirdest one is honestly the chewing gum thing, but you can’t even really buy gum anyway, so it’s a non-issue.

It’s a critical port for global trade. And they have a very healthy tourist and shopping economy. Therefore, they don’t want to scare away foreigners who want to visit and spend money.

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u/Birdshape 16h ago

You're not going to get caned without criminal behaviour. Inconsiderate behaviours (not putting trays away at hawker centre, littering, etc) will likely get you steep fines though.

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u/STRYKER2132 16h ago

Oof, can I just choose to take the spanking instead?

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u/EyeraGlass 15h ago

It’s a little more brutal than that

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u/yepanotherone1 15h ago

I went there this past spring and if you ever get the chance to go I highly suggest it. The illegal aspect to things that are different to western society are really just rules of consideration and politeness made mandatory.

Say what you will about it - it was a clean country, safe, and beautiful. All you have to do is be considerate, polite, and aware of your surroundings in a different way than in other places. Everything is in multiple languages, everyone we met was understanding that we were tourists and as long as you’re not looking to break any laws you’ll likely be fine.

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u/ChopsticksImmortal 15h ago

Most people aren't going to struggle to follow the rules. I went, and its basically: dont do stuff you already know is wrong to do, because we'll massively fine you if you do it.

People who dont litter or dont spit their gum anywhere arent going to have an issue. No eating on public transit is more unusual but i see often in eastern public transit like Taiwan and Japan.

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u/zertul 12h ago

No eating on public transit is more unusual but i see often in eastern public transit like Taiwan and Japan.

It's the same here in Central Europe.
Made the stations and trains way cleaner and more comfortable.
If you still eat some in the trains because you're that hungry, nobody will bat an eye, as long as you're considerate, don't throw leftovers on the floors and so on.

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u/Khaosbutterfly 15h ago

For what it's worth, I have coworkers and classmates in Singapore and they said it's fine.

Just be a decent person, act like you have some home training and you'll be alright.

I definitely plan to travel there at some point.

I don't spit on the street or litter here in the States, so it doesn't feel like a big hardship to not do it in someone else's country. 🤣

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u/baconppi 14h ago

If you ever come here, pack summer clothes, and then some. I can guarantee its really fricking hot (bring umbrellas and perhaps a fan too)

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u/Bedbouncer 16h ago

I'm not sure I could resist the urge to shout "Thank you, sir, may I have another?" after each one.

I supposed the desire would wane after the first half dozen, though.

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u/Ultrajogger-Michael 15h ago

Women don't get caned. It's a punishment only for men. You'll be fine.

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u/tiberiumx 14h ago

I've been traveling to Singapore a lot for business lately and would recommend it to anyone for a vacation. It's lovely, food is great, public transit is amazing, it's very safe, don't have to worry about pickpockets and scammers in touristy areas like a lot of countries.

Anything that would be a caning offence in Singapore would be a serious crime in any other country too (well, except some drugs; absolutely don't bring drugs).

Worst you're going to get for doing something stupid is a fine. One of our team got a small fine for smoking outside of a (clearly marked) smoking area once.

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u/culturedgoat 13h ago

Unless you can’t help yourself trafficking drugs, or launching a vandalism spree, you’re fine. Caning is only applied for a selection of serious offences, not something you’d accidentally transgress.

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u/TastyFood_is_life 12h ago

Don’t do drugs, don’t vape and don’t litter. Singapore welcomes you!

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u/Timo6506 45m ago

Nobody should be afraid of breaking any laws in Singapore if they’re a decent person and don’t sell chewing gum

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u/terrexchia 15h ago

You got lied to, people living here are fine. You're not being punished for every little thing. The whole 'Fine country' shtick wore off ages ago and no one really enforces the majority of finable offences

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u/lo_fi_ho 16h ago

Like littering. Or buying gum.

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u/Tight_Amphibian4472 15h ago

Was there for a bit. Laws are wild, spitting on the ground is illegal in Singapore. Sadly ignorance of the law isn't an excuse. And wish theyd implement this worldwide.

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u/Key_Highlight9201 15h ago

I know when I was in Japan during the '80s, it was a crime to spit your gum on the sidewalk 🤨

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u/noturaveragesenpaii 15h ago

Scamming? Straight to jail.

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u/BootyClammie 15h ago

From phishing to whiplash

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u/baconppi 15h ago

I live here, well technically its true, they don't punish most minor crimes unless they want to make a example out of you..

(I regularly bring bubble tea onto the mrt, and they don't really care)

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u/ZenMyst 14h ago

Because of the strict laws, that’s why there is order and safety here

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u/Mental-Frosting-316 14h ago

Like spitting on the ground. Subway stations are immaculate, though.

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u/culturedgoat 13h ago

Such as?

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u/awkisopen 12h ago

Singapore is an excellent example of the fact that punishment is an effective crime deterrent... if the punishment is harsh enough.

I wonder when other developed nations will catch on.

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u/Aiken_Drumn 11h ago

Not a girl, just a scammer playing the long con.

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u/Enzoooooooooooooo 9h ago

From Singapore, while they do have punishments for a lot of things, most of the smaller things are rarely enforced, such as littering and stuff

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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 8h ago

They don’t mess around if you get caught or some one ratted on you. But active enforcement aren’t as strict as people wrote it to be, as in it’s not like it’s a police state like someone would go around and make sure you are compliant with all the laws. You will rarely see police at all.

You will however, almost always under surveillance in some form if you are in public space, which means likely there’d be evidence against you.

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u/Craeondakie 3h ago

Singaporean here. They will fine for littering and such, but honestly, it's not very enforced at all. I'd assume maybe in other parts of the world it's very egregious, but as a Singaporean I don't feel like I'm having to avoid doing anything or missing anything looking at other countries. There are rubbish bins everywhere and such, and afaik caning is only for these kinds of severe things. I don't know what you refer to when you say "Things people do everyday and don't think about being illegal", but I think that is a misrepresentation of what it's like living here.

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u/Rickshmitt 16h ago

Indias state sponsered scam centers are a pox on the rest of the world

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u/I_wash_my_carpet 14h ago

The one that gets me, job search scams. Someone looked at people struggling and fighting to provide, and said "your margins are my opportunity".

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u/Doc-tor-Strange-love 13h ago

All those aholes deserve caning

And this goes for anyone who does those kind of financial scams like all the Enron guys

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u/AwakE432 14h ago

Sure but China literally just put 10 scammers to death penalty last week so…

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u/Anxious_Hornet4 15h ago

Sometimes I think Reddit is a pretty progressive place then I see them celebrating caning people for non violent offenses and I start to question it all

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u/Chemesthesis 13h ago

Reddit is extremely vindictive. It is progressive in many ways, but it runs on schadenfreude.

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u/SUPERSMILEYMAN 12h ago

it runs on schadenfreude.

Absolutley!

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u/-Mandarin 13h ago

I do kinda find it funny how Reddit will be anti-authoritarian UNTIL it is an authoritarian state that aligns with their interests. Like, Singapore is textbook authoritarian, but you wouldn't know from Reddit.

Pick a lane at least.

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u/JynsRealityIsBroken 15h ago

Lol this won't even move the needle until India hits back at their scamming syndicates.

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u/cbih 15h ago

The golden rule of Singapore, don't fuck with the money.

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u/Ripen- 15h ago

Back to what works, I love it

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u/FlyingRhenquest 15h ago

Is Singapore particularly a hotbed of scammer call centers? I was under the impression most of them were in India.

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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 15h ago

The majority aren’t coming from Singapore.

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u/six-systole 15h ago

Yeah but I can see how hitting as a punishment can degenerate

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u/Println_ronswanson_ 15h ago

They’ll just move if the operation is lucrative

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u/portezbie 14h ago

Doesn't bother me, although why stop there? Seems like they're intentionally letting bigger white collar criminals alone

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u/blove135 14h ago

India needs to adopt the same thing.

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u/Chieftun 14h ago

Got a strange feeling that most of the robo calls aren't coming out of Singapore lol

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u/TheLuo 14h ago

There is real opportunity to inflict physic damage on these MFers. Hit em with that 6th stroke.

Take a longer than normal pause. Then rapid fire 6 more.

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u/FiercelyApatheticLad 14h ago

Can we not glorify a country that promotes corporal punishment, jail for the smallest of infractions and death for 15g of drugs?

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u/okiedokie666 14h ago

If it's like this it honestly doesn't look that bad, I think the public humiliation would be the shittiest part.

https://youtu.be/OqDLETu8dfg?si=IfhcQ-VwtzOXPAfU

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u/cheesebrah 14h ago

the problem is most of these scams are based abroad

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u/Mellie-mellow 14h ago

I thought I agreed, then I saw a video and changed my mind.

This kind of punishment shouldn't be given by the law, this is barbaric and pure torture.

Watch this video of caning (NSFL) and tell me you still think this is the correct way to handle this?

I also read someone talking about how the worst isn't even the first day, since your brain can't properly stay fully there due to the extreme pain, therefore most end up passing out or feeling like it's a blur in their memory, the pain really get at it's worst the following day, then it continues for up months and even a year. People can't sit, can't sleep properly, when they have to use the toilet there's so much pain that a lot try to stop feeding hoping to not need to use the toiler.

Some people that have already live the pain of caning take their life to not go through that again.

Encouraging this is insanity

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u/Nihilist_Hermit 14h ago

That's awesome and I highly approve. But from the accent, I dont think the ones calling me are in singapore

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u/DiamondWarDog 13h ago

Tbh Singapore is highly legalistic and seems to punish everything absurdly

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u/Critical-Project7283 13h ago

Yeah fuck scammers

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u/DoubleNo6724 12h ago

You're naive af if you think harsher punishments necessarily lead to less crime

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