[Alberta's Child]

I saw an in-depth report on the political/economic/social conditions in Singapore on TV a few years ago. The thing I found most remarkable is that its citizens consistently rank among the most optimistic and happy in the world, even though they live in a political/legal system that would probably be considered oppressive by most Westerners.

The reason for this, according to this report, is that everybody is treated equally under the law, and is subject to the same "oppressive" treatment. And I mean everybody. They cited an example from a few years ago from a case where the young adult son of one of the nation's rulers was caught committing some kind of petty/mischief crime (vandalism, maybe).

The guy was subjected to the same punishment that anyone else would have faced.

He was flogged in public.

On national television.

[dfwgator]

I wish we could flog perps caught spray-painting graffiti over here.