Bronze-level articleSingapore

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Singapore is a one metre wide city state on an island at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.

As a financial hub and popular tourist destination, Singapore is a thriving modern economy, and maintains generally good relations with the rest of the world, despite its repressive regime and questionable human rights record.

[edit] Government

Singapore is effectively a one-party dictatorship, ruled by the People's Action Party, who have a fairly annoying tendency of disliking free speech, and commies. They also seem to dislike the internet.[1] However, they have taken a dramatic step towards free speech by telling protesters that they can protest in some designated park, as long as they don't talk about ethnicity or religion.[2] They also like executing and censoring people, and hate drugs. Oh, and they also believe in family values "Asian Values".[3]

[edit] Laws and punishments

Thanks to its use of caning as a common punishment, Singapore has the crime problem beaten (it can be a real pain in the ass). Singapore also has among the highest execution rates in the world, measured against its population. The death penalty is mandatory for murder and drug-trafficking offences.

Singapore is also known for its curious obsession with cleanliness. Mundane actions such as littering, spitting, jaywalking, chewing gum, and even forgetting to flush the toilet are illegal. Usually, the punishment for such actions is a heavy fine, which is why many locals call Singapore a "fine city." While many consider these laws to be harsh, at least the city is very environmentally clean, giving the city its reputation as the "world's cleanest city".

As with Malaysia, some laws in Singapore are faith-specific. For example, Muslims, and only Muslims, can legally practice polygamy.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. "PAP moves to counter criticism of party, Govt in cyberspace"
  2. http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_269629.html
  3. http://www.unu.edu/unupress/asian-values.html
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