It's no surprise that Singapore's drug laws are notoriously strict. The country takes law and order extremely seriously and all regulations no matter how trifling are stringently enforced. The same zero tolerance applies be you guilty of high level corruption or chewing gum on the street. It may seem surprising then, that I can confidently count the number of policemen I have seen on the fingers of one hand - and I've been living here over four weeks! Crime simply isn't an issue in Singapore.
A recent Straits Times article I came across was particularly revealing: according to the paper, conditions in the country's prisons are spartan at best, and a number of crimes still carry the death penalty. Last weekend I glimpsed the imposing Changi jail through barbed wire and high security fences on our way to the prison museum. It really isn't hard to see how effective these deterrents are to would-be criminals! Whilst Singapore has adopted a very hard stance, the results speak for themselves. In contrast to many western cities I have visited, wherever I am in Singapore I always feel safe. I am completely free to explore the whole city at my leisure without fear of mugging or straying into the wrong neighbourhood.
At work today I volunteered as a model (read: guinea pig) for the Hyatt's new trainee masseurs; and bagged myself a free massage. Lying on my front for two hours whilst the masseur rubbed hot stones over my back gave me a chance to ponder Singapore's law enforcement policies, and I came to the conclusion that the traditional burning basalt therapy really is the only practical way of getting stoned in Singapore...
Enjoying reading the blog so far!
It's a pity the UK doesn't seem to enforce the law as harshly. Maybe if criminals here were given proper sentences, this country wouldn't be in such a mess.
Posted by: Lynsay | August 25, 2008 at 10:53 PM