But there is virtually no personal freedom there. You can be heavily fined for being in possession of chewing gum. And possession of even the smallest amount of narcotics brings an automatic death penalty. They may be prosperous, but I suspect a whole lot of these folks will not enjoy life there.
Throwing trash on the ground [including chewing gum] is the punishable offense. Being in possession of chewing gum is no problem. Not that this is much better... just sayin’...
As soon as the SHTF there they will have Uncle Sam and the taxpayers/US military bailing them out.
I've been there half a dozen times and loved the place.
Singapore is clean, well-run, absolutely safe and secure (partially thanks to strict drugs policy) relatively cheap compared to other Asian cities, has great travel links to go elsewhere quickly, and respects contracts and follows the rule of law. Its people are smart, polite, moderate and behave in public. It is, of course, low tax as well. Political correctness does NOT rule in Singapore, as it does in New York. Socialists are generally not welcome.
Unless you want to do drugs or advocate aggressively against the ruling Party in Singapore, you are absolutely free to do what you want, as in other places. It would not be a bad option when faced with NY crime, Bloomberg, and Obama as the other choice.
Money talks no matter the language.
BTW, I have been to Singapore MANY times and even can immitate the way they speak English very well ( with the inevitable “LA” at the end of sentences ).
Regarding fines, yes, You CAN be fined.
But just as there are laws in any country which exist but are rarely enforced, many of the laws in Singapore for minor offenses are not enforced either.
Not flushing the toilet after you use it is a fineable offense, but since most toilets in Singapore flush themselves after someone uses it (thank you, infrared sensors), this is rarely a problem anymore.
Spitting on the street can get you fined $200, but I have yet to see this one enforced either, although I have been a primary witness to some rather nasty things being spit out.
Just like in the USA, most of those laws are selectively enforced. They aren't aimed at Western expats (unless they decide to spray paint graffiti on trains) - they are aimed at boorish Malay and Indonesian farmer types who spit on the sidewalk, engage in public drunkenness, and otherwise threaten the cherished Chinese concept of "social order". The same holds true in China, for that matter - much of what is ascribed by an uncomprehending Western media to top-down Communist authoritarianism is actually a codification of Chinese cultural beliefs that go back thousands of years. The people there really do have the government they want, hard as it is for Americans to believe. Do we have the government we want?
It's a different culture, and judging Singapore (or China) by one's lack of freedom to stage angry political protests misses the point. It seems we can't do that in the USA anymore, either, without earning a visit from the SS or DHS.
And the truth is, American social conservatives would love Singapore. It's like an ultra-high tech Orlando, Florida - minus the frequent outbursts from Holder's People. :)
As far as chewing gum is concerned, those rules have become quite relaxed. They started because the subways were being vandalized by people leaving their chewing gum everywhere.
Quite untrue.
We lived there for several years and never found our freedom to be constrained. If you're a law-abiding citizen you will enjoy yourself.
The only constraint we felt was the tiny size of the island. But if you have bucks you can enjoy yourself immensely as you tour around to Bali, Malaysia, Thailand, etc.