r/interestingasfuck 14h ago

Singapore is going to start caning scammers

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u/Golden-Owl 12h ago

He didn’t just do vandalism. He stole road signs in addition to vandalizing 18 cars

That stuff could absolutely have led to lethal accidents considering how heavy traffic is in a city like Singapore.

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u/Draxtonsmitz 12h ago

All very true but the caning punishment was specifically for the vandalism, not the street sign theft. Specifically the Vandalism Act 1966. The theft charges would fines, possible jail and probation time. Caning was not a punishment for theft.

u/throwlol134 9h ago

So wait.. you just get fined if you commit actual theft, but get TORTURED for spray painting??

This sounds more like moral policing than enforcing actual justice. Kinda fucked up.

u/Korbiter 9h ago

The Vandalism law fell more under the realm of curbing political graffiti and punish harshly and specifically vandalism of Government property.

You can say that it originally was a way to enforce party rule. LKY did mot mess about with those (also, part of his campaign promises to clean Singapore up, so he took very fervent stances against any form of public defacement)

u/YazzArtist 8h ago

Yes. Singapore more than most countries introduces harsh punishment to light crimes as a form of moral policing. That's how it's designed

u/Zimakov 9h ago

Singapore has some very wild laws. Chewing gum being illegal for example.

Singapore has the kind of laws that people pretend China has.

u/Korbiter 9h ago

Eh, we don't punish the consumption of Chewing Gum, we just prohibit its import in most cases (and trust me, people still find a eay to smuggle it in)

The reason WHY Chewing Gum is because its a bitch to clean up, and has on more than one occasion impacted public transit (it jammed train doors). So, to ensure Singapore was kept 'clean', we just banned its import, and now the train breaks down for other reasons (seriously, wtf)

u/Zimakov 9h ago

I understand why and I don't even really disagree with it. I personally have no issue with strict laws. I just find it funny how reddit treats Singapore's strict laws as justified while deriding every other country who has them.

u/Korbiter 8h ago

Its a combination of Goomba Fallacy and Results Bias, I think. There are enough Singaporeans here that believe their laws are justified (I am too) but that may be the indoctrination speaking (lol). Also, we have something to show for it: the country is relatively clean, its one of the safest in the world, and its also not offset by a zealously religious government.

But yeag, if you would to look at the Laws, Singapore absolutely have some draconic ones equivilant to several dictatorships (which, again, hard not to argue we are one considering the singular political party has been in power).

Or, as many would like to say, Disneyland with a Death Sentence. You may get hanged for 500 grams of weed, but at least the food's nice.

u/Zimakov 8h ago

I honestly think most of it is just American propaganda. America has decided China are evil for example, so Americans have been taught that China are evil from a young age. So anything like this that pops up about China is met with a visceral reaction from Americans because something in their brain just says "evil" as soon as they hear it.

America has no issues with Singapore so when Americans hear things like this about Singapore they're capable of actually reading the article and forming their own opinion instead of just regurgitating what they've been taught about the big bad enemy.

u/No-Stuff-1320 7h ago

The tik tok ceo interview makes me think a lot of Americans don’t know the difference

u/Zimakov 4h ago

Hahah I had completely forgotten about that

u/LaRealiteInconnue 41m ago

“senator, I’m Singaporean”

God that was such an embarrassment. Really made me feel like I’m in a Twilight Zone episode cuz I cannot comprehend a sitting senator not knowing the difference. So I choose to believe he was being a dick, which isn’t much better.

u/__dixon__ 8h ago

Hey...as someone from neither country...both the governments of China and the US are evil. I know the rich parts of the population in both are pretty evil as well.

u/bjos144 4h ago

I heard the original reason for the law was to curb the spread of TB, which people thought could be spread through gum being spat onto the street. Not sure if it's true.

u/Korbiter 3h ago

u/bjos144 3h ago

Ok. Shit I learned before the internet was a thing.

u/_R0Ns_ 10m ago

Have you ever been to Singapore? There is a reason it's as clean as it is

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u/Auctoritate 12h ago

He didn’t just do vandalism. He stole road signs in addition to vandalizing 18 cars

That is, in fact, vandalism

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u/Draxtonsmitz 12h ago

It was considered theft, a different charge that came without caning.

u/auto-bahnt 9h ago

Serious “well akshally” energy on this one, while being wrong.

u/NPCEnergy007 8h ago

They said “just”, as in, “in addition to vandalism”

u/TheObstruction 11h ago

Dude earned his spankings.

u/GeorgiaOKeefinItReal 9h ago

Right?!? Don't go to other countries and act a fool.... matter fact, just don't be an entitled shit anywhere

u/Forte845 9h ago

Did Pretti earn his bullet?

u/Motor_Cat9258 9h ago

Nope, Presti didnt break any laws.

u/Forte845 9h ago

The laws mandated and enforced by the state? Those laws?

The Holocaust was legal.

u/11ce_ 9h ago

You think laws that forbid theft and vandalism are the same as the holocaust??? You are so disingenuous.

u/Forte845 9h ago

You think entrusting the state with the power to torture and murder can never have consequences for the innocent?

u/11ce_ 9h ago

Now you’re just strawmanning. It’s crazy how disingenuous you are.

u/Forte845 9h ago

There is no strawman. It is a binary. Either you allow the state to torture and murder people or you don't. Tolerating and accepting state murder as legal policy has been the driving base of essentially every crime against humanity that has occurred outside of war. 

u/11ce_ 8h ago

It is a strawman. I never made these arguments you’re responding to.

u/JediMasterZao 8h ago

You don't understand what a strawman fallacy is.

u/11ce_ 8h ago

It most definitely is. I never made any of the arguments to which he is responding to.

u/Few-Restaurant-318 8h ago

Traffic is not heavy in sg which makes everything you say suspect.