[VanDeKoik]

They dont play around there. People see it as a paranoid city-state, but the fact that they will cane you for littering is evidence that your feelings dont take priority over safety.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: but the fact that they will cane you for littering is evidence that your feelings dont take priority over safety

They fine you for littering, not cane you.

They cane you for spraying graffiti on the wall and deliberately defacing and destroying public property.

[grumpygresh]

Singapore is not nearly as repressive as people think. Their per capita prison population is less than 1/3 of US rate.

[Zhang Fei]

[They dont play around there. People see it as a paranoid city-state, but the fact that they will cane you for littering is evidence that your feelings dont take priority over safety.]

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I believe the caning is for repeated vandalism or visa overstays (i.e. illegal immigration).

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https://www.goabroad.com/articles/study-abroad/singapore-laws-to-know-before-you-go
[Singapore is bent on maintaining its reputation of being impeccably clean, with an active campaign against littering and stringent enforcement in place. First time offenders who throw small items like cigarette butts or candy wrappers are fined $300. Those who throw out bigger items like drink cans or bottles are considered defiant and are required to appear before the court. The punishment usually involves a Corrective Work Order (CWO), where the offenders clean up a specified area while wearing a bright luminous green vest. The CWO was implemented in the hopes of making offenders realize the hardship cleaners have to go through to keep the surroundings clean, and to make them understand just how unsightly litter is. It is also admittedly aimed at publicly shaming the offenders to ensure that they don’t regress to being a litterbug again.]

[Vigilanteman]

Singapore went from having 10% of its population addicted to opium based drugs in 1965 to having 10% of its population in millionaire status just 40 years later.

They did it, in part, by giving druggies three opportunities to get clean through rehab. Strike three meant exile to one of the tiny islets (a square mile or so in size) offshore. A boat will back-up a couple of times a month to drop off food and other basics and remove the overdosed dead for cremation.

The message quickly got around that Singapore society had low tolerance for supporting such lifestyles.