Singapore is a fine city

(potp: Dancing in Singapore)

PICS!!!

Hello everybody!

I finally uploaded my first pictures. There are some shots of the surroundings (condominium + beach!), as well as a try to document my commuting every morning). There will be more coming up during the next week, I hope. I am just tooooo lazy to take pictures.

http://public.fotki.com/Maikinnz/01_singapore/

Update: In case the page is offline (happens from time to time..) just try it a few hours later or the next day..Sorry

BE CAREFUL

As the picture of the post suggests, it is a wise decision not to do everything in the public sphere.. Singapore truly earns the label of a 'nanny state' considering such things as the ban of imports of chewing gum, highest fines for littering, spitting and not flushing in public toilets..Penalising the smallest offences has become a trademark of this city.

An excerpt:
(1 S$ = 0,5€ = 0,6 US$)

- selling or importing chewing gum: S$1000
- dropping gum or litter: S$1000
- dancing in public: S$5000
- skateboarding: S$500
- smoking in most public places: S$1000
- hawking without a licence: S$500
- vandalism: S$5000
- public speaking without permit: S$2000
....

THINKING ABOUT IT..

These are fines for first offences..repeaters usually face corrective work or even jail..The dimension of these fines might seem odd for foreigners (including me). However, conversations with locals showed me that they seem to support it and I guess these laws are also a main contributor to the taming of all the different cultures that exist in this melting pot. It is true..these measures make Singapore a very safe place.I haven't felt uncomfortable in any way during my first 15 days. For me the lack of chewing gum felt like drug rehabilitation in the beginning :-)..but then you realise that the streets are clean from trampled chewing gum remnants, that it is difficult to find ANY garbage in the public, that it is so clean in the underground-mrt (mass rapid transport) stations that you sometimes think you could eat from the floor.

Taken from a newspaper:
"Repeat offenders get their pictures splashed across the papers in addition to getting threatened with jail," ..."Asians are used to discipline, they respect their leaders and the law a lot more. They accept what they are told to do for the common good."

Well done Singapore, but you still earn the title of 'THE fine city'!

Wish you all a beautiful day!

Maik

p.s. theft is punishable with cane beats, I heard...