Common Misconceptions

Here, we address some common misconceptions about Singapore:

"The laws are strict here. You can't even chew gum!"

Anytime a foreigner raises the point that one cannot chew gum in Singapore, or that one will be fined for chewing gum in Singapore, some informed Singaporean may take it upon himself to inform the misinformed that it is NOT an offence to CHEW gum. Only to SELL, or IMPORT gum. And of course to litter with your gum waste (that's covered under our anti-littering laws).

So if you enter Singapore with a pack or two of gum for your own consumption, you're okay. The only way you might get in trouble is if you spit the gum out on the streets (littering) or try to sell some to someone.

Video: Lies about Singapore Foreigners Believe:

Tours by Jane.

It is also a misunderstanding that chewing gum were banned (from sales) because it was a littering issue. That was not the reason. Chewing gum were banned after the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) started operations. Then there were incidents (or so the authorities claimed) where the trains were disrupted because there was gum stuck to the train doors. The doors have sensors which prevents them from closing if there are any obstructions, and this effectively stalls the train, and because trains run on shared tracks, if one train is stalled, all the trains behind it cannot proceed. So because of ONE person's mischief, hundreds and thousands of others are inconvenienced. And a billion dollar MRT system is sabotaged by a 10-cent gum. In this day of social media challenges, it would NOT be long before "The Gum up the Train" challenge becomes viral. And all you can see when you get to the train platforms are people packed like sardines in trains that cannot move. Pathetic. So the law was passed to disallow the importation and sale of chewing gum. Having and chewing gum is NOT an offence. I have gum at home. Just don't litter and don't sabotage the MRT.

Tourist Challenge: Here's a challenge if you feel up to it. If you have gum on you, and you see some police officers patrolling (they can often) be found patrolling MRT stations and trains at times, go up to the lead officer (if you can identity him or her by the rank. Most likely a sergeant). Introduce yourself, (e.g. "Hi, I'm a tourist and I wanted to check, is it an offence to chew gum in Singapore?") If the police officer knows the law well (and they should!), he (or she) would tell you that it is NOT an offence to chew gum... and that it is only an offence to sell gum. At that point, if he has confirmed (that in his understanding) it is ONLY AN OFFENCE TO SELL GUM, take out your gum and say, "So, I can chew this gum?" and proceed to chew it. For bonus points, offer the officer a gum. Extra bonus points if you offer the entire patrol team. Instagram bonus points if you get a selfie of you with the police officers (gum optional). Epic points if you video-ed EVERYTHING!

"Rules (and laws) are for everyone."

So, if you are a sex worker on holiday in Singapore and you got an offer for some sex work, and well, you have some free time, so why not make some money (your accommodation was expensive!). But after your... "work engagement", the cheapskate tries to stiff you! What do you do? Go to the police? That's what an Australian woman was advised. (And the sex-welsher got 3 years and 71 days jail. )

So...

1) It doesn't matter if you are a foreign sex worker, if you have been wronged, the authorities will take action.

2) Did it matter that she was a tourist? Are we trying to gain the tourist trade of Australian sex worker-tourists?

3) Singapore already has a reputation as an expensive country. It does not help to also have a reputation for being cheap (or a cheater).

4) No word as to whether the Australian Sex Worker was charged with illegally working in Singapore while on a social visit. Probably because she had returned to Australia...

The point of this is to illustrate that Singapore laws are fair and apply to everyone. And everyone is protected under the law.

"You can be caned for littering, spitting, chewing gum, or not flushing the toilet!"

No, you won't. 

In case you haven't seen the (famous? infamous?) T-shirt: "Singapore is a FINE City!" (Below.) Most of the offences will warrant a fine. Or if you are recalcitrant litterer, Corrective Work Order cleaning the streets. Because caning does not benefit Singapore. Fines do! Also Corrective Work Orders,

Also, you have to be caught, before you can be fined (that's why the police have all those cameras around). But there are no cameras in the toilet to catch you not flushing. And anyway, most public toilets are auto-flushing. 

And to repeat, chewing gum is NOT an offence. Only if you commit sabotage with it, or litter with it.

Second Challenge: Get a video of someone being arrested for littering, spitting, chewing gum, or not flushing the toilet! It has to be an arrest with handcuffs! Not just a talking to, or a warning. If you managed to get a video of an "offender" paying the fine on the spot to a police officer, that's CORRUPTION! Report it to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau!

"You can be HANGED for drugs!"

This... is somewhat true. If you have more than a certain amount of drugs, the law assumes that you trafficking in drugs, and if convicted, you can be sentenced to death. And currently, execution is by hanging until dead. 

So if you read the above clearly, it means that very small amount of drugs will be assumed to be for personal use, but you will still face serious consequences. 

Why is Singapore so intolerant of drugs?

Well, you have to look at history. Many Singaporeans are Chinese, and China was humiliated by the British, and other colonial powers in the 19th century. The British would sell opium to China, and use the revenue to buy tea and sell that to Britain and Europe (and, I understand, to the colonies in the New World, a.k.a. "the States" today, as well, until the colonist there threw the tea into the Boston Harbour. They probably knew that the tea was bought with drug money. Or something like that.)

And when China tried to stop the British from selling opium to the Chinese, they (the Brits) went to war. (So before there was a War on Drugs, there were War FOR Drugs!) China was humiliated in those wars (they lost) and the British took Hong Kong (as compensation?) But they had to give Hong Kong back in 1997.

Opium ravaged the people and left them lethargic and listless.

This also happened to Singapore before, during and after World War II. After the Japanese left and the British returned, Singapore was a mess. People facing the aftermath of the Japanese occupation, with no jobs and no hope turned to the embrace of opium to dull their senses to the hopelessness.

Sang Nila Utama?

And a few hundred years before that, a (presumably) drug-addled Prince from Palembang made landfall on what we now call "Singapore", after a storm. He then went hunting (because that is what you do when you're a prince from Palembang after surviving a storm at sea). He saw a strange creature with a red body, a black head and white breast. He asked his chief minister what the animal was, and the Chief Minister told him it was a lion. Oh wait! It was not the Prince that was doing drugs. it was the Chief Minister. Anyway, the Prince, Sang Nila Utama, declared that the island would be called Singapura, or Lion City, even though Lions are not native to this area. And certainly not Red bodied, Black Headed, and White Breasted "lion". Like, what kind of lion is that?!?! Okay, the Prince might also have been on drugs... It was a drug party on the royal yacht! (if it helps, in my mind's eye, I see Capt Jack Sparrow - Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean" - as this prince.)

Anyway, 700 years or so later, some other person possibly on drugs, put the head of a lion on the body of a fish and created the Merlion. And the rest is drug-fuelled history.

Meanwhile, the US started to decriminalise Recreational Marijuana in 2012 (Colorado & Washington first). By 2016, about half the states in the US had legalised marijuana. And Donald Trump was elected President! 

Coincidence? 

Or Consequence?

So, that is why Singapore is so tough on drugs! (We don't want to elect a Donald Trump!)

Third Tourist Challenge: Multiple choice section. Complete one of the following challenges: 1) Find a Red-bodied, Black-headed, White-breasted creature in Singapore (without drugs!), and take a photo or video of it. And no, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak (pictured below) does not count! 2)  Find a REAL Merlion (again, without drugs), and take a video or photo of it!  3) Video an actual hanging (not yours) for drug trafficking. 

Singapore is Expensive

Singapore can be expensive if you choose to spend. Or it can be very affordable (in most areas of life).

This video is of Max trying to eat really cheaply, and really indulgently:

There are maybe 4 things in Singapore that are objectively "expensive".

The first is homes and accommodation (including hotels). Singapore is small, and highly urbanised. There is 720 sq km of land on Singapore, and about 6 million people (approximately), and these residents of Singapore needs a place to stay. At the same time, pre-pandemic, we attracted almost 20 million tourists to Singapore each year (and hope to do so again, post-pandemic). And we only have 70,000 hotel rooms. (In comparison, Bali attracts 1/3 the tourists, and have more than half the hotel rooms of Singapore. Correspondingly, the hotel rates there are cheaper. Not that I am recommending Bali for your travels.)

The second is private vehicles. Singapore strongly discourages the ownership of private vehicles. To this end, cars are taxed heavily - about 170%?, and then on top of that, would-be car owners have to bid for a certificate of entitlement (COE) in order to have the right to own a car (for 10 years), and the COE bids have exceeded $100,000 in 2023. So a car that would cost you say $20k in the US, would be taxed to $35,000 maybe, and then you add the COE of $120k, and you would have a price of about $180k. For a car that would cost you $20k in the US. But... you're not here to buy a car now are you?

The third and fourth things that would be objectively more expensive is alcohol and tobacco. These are taxed heavily because of the social costs (social issues like drunken behaviour, and healthcare burdens). Many tourists are shocked by the price of a pint of beer in Singapore (S$17 in some cases). Cigarettes are less complained about because smokers have mostly died off, or are used to being taxed to death. Also Smokers are pariahs and they don't dare complain about cigarettes costing more and more. In fact, sex workers get more protection than smokers!

That said, it is possible to get more reasonably priced beer.

Here's a $3 pint of beer offered by a restaurant at Northpoint City, a mall, (photo right) Yishun. (Terms & Conditions may apply.)

In town (CBD area), where rent is high, and there are tourists to scalp, beer prices will necessarily be high (like $17 a pint!)

But away from the tourist's trap and high rent areas, prices can be more reasonable. Though not as cheap as beer in less wealthy places like Hanoi, Bali, etc.

The takeaway from this is, do your drinking in Hanoi or Bali unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. And yes, I know. Singapore is HOT and HUMID and a beer would really hit the spot! So try a coffee shop or hawker centre and have beer with your food.

"So... Singapore is NOT for backpackers?"

We have backpackers coming to Singapore. And they look for cheap accommodations. And they have to adjust their budget. But there are lots of things to enjoy in Singapore for free!

Video: "My first 24 hours Backpacking Singapore.":

Other than accommodations, backpackers can get hawker food, and free entertainment (like Garden Rhapsody, and Spectra light shows at Gardens by the Bay, and Marina Bay Sands bayfront respectively.) Jewel is mostly free, most of the Gardens by the Bay are free. So's the Botanic Gardens, Treetop walk, etc. And our public transit is very affordable, and signs are mainly in English (and our other languages). So navigating our public transit is quite doable, and would be within budget. 

Backpackers don't buy cars do they? Or they'll be in for a shock!

Not that I want to encourage backpackers (and other budget tourists) to Singapore (buncha cheapos!), but here's another video from a coupla cheap-- er... budget travellers:

Singapore Sling and the Raffles Hotel Long Bar

So this is on your bucket list - to sit in the Long Bar, eat peanuts, throw the shells on the floor, and sip a Singapore Sling. 

Okay, just to be clear, most Singaporeans I know do not crave the Singapore Sling. I've had it. Cos bucket list, and I wanted to know what the big deal was. It's not bad. Fruity, if I recall. But not something I would crave. But bucket lists have to be ticked off, so order a Singapore Sling!

I've sat at the Long Bar, eaten peanuts and just DROPPED the shells on the floor. As opposed to pretentious tourists who had to make a show of HURLING the shells onto the floor... as a show of rebellion? Protest? Personal statement? Just drop them as nonchalantly surreptitiously as you can, but without looking guilty. Imagine that you are a British colonial master, and it is beneath you to look for a waste bin and drop your shells in there. That's what the brown coolies (menials) are for - to pick up after you, the colonial master. You don't hurl the shells around like a noob just off the ship from the old country. That's just bad form, old chap.

(Oh. in a video I watched, a tourist had a peanut allergy and she found out from another visitor (on some peanut allergy sufferers sob story website, I think) that when the other peanut allergy sufferer was at the Long Bar, the amount of peanut "dust" in the atmosphere caused her allergy to react. So she decided not to go to the Long Bar. Just for your info, if you have an allergy to peanuts.)

Speed round

Century Eggs take a hundred years to cure/make/preserved - No. They take a few weeks. Months at the most,

Carrot Cake has no carrots. Not quite correct. "Carrot Cake" denoting the western dessert would be the carrot cake that westerners expect. And yes, I assume that it would have carrots (not having eaten a western Carrot Cake before). "Carrot Cake" which is a translation of "Chye Tow Kueh", which translated word for word, would mean "Carrot Cake" is a dish made from radish. Carrots and Radish are referred to as "Chye Tow" (but with modifiers) in Chinese.  So Carrot Cake does have "carrots", just not exactly the carrots you expect.

Phoenix Claw. Phoenix are mythical creatures. You would actually be eating chicken feet.

Merlion. Head of a lion. Body a fish. This is not even a mythical creature. This is a tourism construct as a mascot for Singapore. It was first devised in 1963 by Fraser Brunner. Any stories that a headless fish (whose head had been taken to make fish-head curry), was found next to a lion's head (from a lion dance troupe), and the Merlion was born, is at best apocryphal, and at worst wishful thinking. Also, the Singapore Tourism Board would like me to inform all and sundry that replicating the likeness of the Merlion without the permission of the Board could mean a $1000 fine. (But the Tourism Board also said, off the record, that the Merlion is so popular that they can't really stop anyone from using the likeness. But if there were some egregious abuse or misuse of the likeness of the Merlion (like Merlion Porn!), they have that ($1000 fine) law that they can use.

Or they can use the Merlion to celebrate 55 years of diplomatic relations with Ultraman... I mean Japan!

"This is all well and good, but Singapore is not a Democracy/is an Authoritarian state/is ruled by a Dictator!"

If you believe any of the above, I'm sure you would not come to visit Singapore for fear that you would be arrested, jailed, and possibly "disappeared" (on some trumped up charge). Nothing I say will persuade you otherwise. So I won't. Please don't come here. There are enough close-minded people here. We don't need to import them from overseas.

But don't take it from me. "Singapore is Authoritarian" is the second stereotype address in the next video.

She's a foreigner (you can tell she's a foreigner cos she doesn't speak Singlish) debunking (or confirming) some stereotypes of Singapore.

Like I said, if you have never visited Singapore, but your "personal research" have led you to conclude that Singapore is run by a dictator/autocrat (not to confused with an Autobot, cos cars are expensive here), is authoritarian, undemocratic, and an oppressed society... I won't try to change your mind... Cos the dictator told me not to.

Video: Singapore is part of China?

This is a misconception only the uninformed and uneducated, and unworldly wise can have. Probably Americans (US citizens) who don't have a passport and voted for Trump.

But seriously, why does Singapore have such harsh penalties for such petty offences like littering, spitting, not flushing the toilet, not returning your food tray after eating at hawker centres (which I noticed no tourist have complained about!)

I'll take the answer from "Why Singapore" (Specifically the 7th point of this video):

Oh great! You know all those petty laws and penalties we have? Fines for not flushing the toilet. Fines for littering/spitting/not returning your tray after eating at hawker centres? If the authorities sees this video, there will be a law against picking noses in public!

Why? Because Singapore progressed from Third World to First in ONE generation! That means people who grew up with bucket toilets, spitting, littering, and picking their noses, found themselves in the first world with flushing toilets, clean streets, sanitary hawker centres, and tourists who notice them picking their noses in public! 

And the SG Govt had to drag them kicking and screaming into modernity.

with laws! And harsh penalties. It's part of the "drag them kicking and screaming into the First World where people are civilised and don't do uncivilised things" schtick.

Also, if you know a bit of social science/ sociology, or you have heard of "The Broken Window Hypothesis", then you may understand that if there is no litter on the streets, then you are less likely to litter. If there are no graffiti on the walls, you are less likely to put your mark on the wall. 

If Singapore had not progressed as fast, and had taken a few generations to progress from Third World to First, then when grandma forgets to flush the new-fangled flushing toilet, mom and dad will yell at her (or tell her nicely) and she will learn (unless she has dementia). More importantly, you (the grandchild) will learn, while grandma will eventually die, and there would be no need to fine people for not flushing the public toilets, because you would have learned at home. 

So the TL;DR answer is, Singapore progressed faster than social norms could evolved, so laws had to be enacted to establish civilised behaviour.