Singapore: Law, Culture, & Society

I signed up for a food tour of Singapore through my hostel. Over the course of six hours, not only did I try all the foods Singapore is famous for, I learned pretty much everything there is to know about the country. I'll try to summarize all the major points here.

GOVERNMENT

Singapore is the world's most successful authoritarian government (probably because the country is only one city). To qualify to run for president you must have had and executive position in a company with over 100 employees and had treasury responsibilities for at least 100 million Singapore dollars (1 USD = 1.25 SGD). Only 50 Singaporeans are eligible under this criteria. To attract the best talent to government positions, government salaries are competitive with salaries in the private market (CEOs) with performance bonuses. For this reason Singapore's government officials are the highest paid in the world. The president of Singpore earns ten times the salary of the US president.

ECONOMY

Singapore is among the biggest economic success stories of the past half century. It's standard of living and GDP per capita is on par with leading western nations. It is the world's busiest port by cargo tonnage which handles 1/5th of the world's cargo and 1/2 of the worlds crude oil. It is also Southeast Asia's leading center of finance and high tech manufacturing.

Singapore's waters are more crowded than the streets of Chinatown

RACE

Singapore is a multiethnic society. Under British rule, the city transformed from a fishing village into the most important port between the Indian and Pacific Oceans in little over a century. This attracted thousands of Malay, Indian, and Chinese people to settle on the island. These three groups make up the majority of Singaporeans today with roughly 75% Chinese, 15% Malay, and 10% Indian. When the British relinquished it's colonies in the 1960's, ehtnic riots broke out. The government responded with a campaign to forge a Singaporean identity. To foster cultural understanding all public housing complexes are representative of the national ethnic and religious makeup with a margin of 10% (e.g. all housing complexes are between 65-85% Chinese). Today 85% of all Singaporeans live in government housing.

Singapore is religiously diverse. Christianity is the fastest growing religion despite prostelatizing being illegal.

SOCIAL STATUS & CARS

Because the vast majority of Singaporeans live in government managed housing complexes, the home is not how wealth is obstentaciously displayed. Singaporeans show their wealth through their cars.

A typical government housing complex. The average value of a home in a government complex is between 200 and 400 thousand Singapore dolars.

Cars are highly regulated by the Singapore government. To own a car in Singapore, you must enter a lottery for a vehicle ownership license. The license is not free, if you are eligible to receive one through the lottery it costs SG$ 140,000. That will make a low to mid range luxury car cost well over $200,000 to own. On top of that the vehicle license lasts only 10 years, at which point you must either buy a new license or scrap your car. I didn't see any cars in Singapore look close to 10 years old.

Not only is it expensive to own a car in Singapore, it's expensive to drive one. All cars and motorcycles have an electric card reader built in. When you drive onto a major road, overhead sensors register your vehicle and start charging your card for usage of the road. It also charges you for time spent in a parking lot (by the minute).

Overhead sensors at the entrance of a major road

Where can I park? No worries, convenient parking directories display the number of free spaces in nearby garages

LAW & ORDER

Here are some of the laws that are posted in Singapore. Minor infractions carry heavy fines and major crimes can result in being whipped by a cane or death by hanging.

No spitting anywhere

No littering - there is a heavy fine plus two weeks picking up garbage

No peeing in elevators - there are sensors in housing complex elevators that detect urine. If you pee in an elevator it will lock you inside until the police come to arrest you.

No loud noises late at night in residential areas - there are noise monitoring microphones in the courtyards of housing complexes.

Be quiet, the government is listening

SG $1000 for riding in the underpass

Please, dont throw yourself onto the subway tracks

CATS

The SARS virus in the early 2000's triggered the government to start eliminating stray cats in Singapore (at the time thought to be a vector for the virus, later proven false). Cat lovers in Singapore rallied and pettitioned to save the cats. Some extremists hid dozens of strays from the government in their homes. After the panic of SARS subsided and the government's policy ended, cat lovers in Singapore began a campaign to change the image of dray cats in the country. Because of their efforts, cats without owners are no longer refered to as strays, but are called 'community cats'. Cats in Singapore are very friendly and well looked after by their community.