Some Facts about Singapore

        Singapore is very similar and different from the US.  They have a parliamentary system, but the same party has been in power for 50 years.  Their laws are very strict.  You cannot chew gum at all.  Drugs are obviously very illegal.  There are a lot of heavy fines for things like littering and chewing gum, smoking in public, or eating and drinking on the metro.  If you are caught with drugs on you, it is capital punishment, or death by hanging.  Other offences can land you with time in prison and a certain number of canings.  You normally get one caning for every month that you are in jail.  They hit you so hard that they have to wrap your kidneys so they don’t rupture.  It is a good way to keep people from breaking the law.

          The infrastructure of Singapore is very advanced, because of the amount of money the government makes off of cars.  The tax on importing cars is 120%.  A 1.6 liter Toyota that costs about 25,000 with all of the extras in America, would cost 100,000 dollars.  You also have to pay a road tax of $900 a year, and when you get your car, you have to buy a ten year license for anywhere from 60,000 to 90,000 dollars.  Once that one is up, you have to get rid of your car and buy a new one.  Another big expense is on landscape maintenance.  The whole island is a garden basically.  On the road, you see a tree every 20 feet.  Every tree is fertilized and cared for.  To keep it looking nice, the electrical wires are kept underground.  It’s not just trees that they have either.  There are bushes to hide the guard rails, and flowers are everywhere.  We were told that it costs about 40million a year to maintain the landscape.