231–239 of 239 posts
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I'm not a fan of the death penalty. But to be afraid of dying in Singapore is silly. Singapore is probably the safest country on the planet. There is no crime. No natural disasters. A good, cheap medical system. A great transportation system. A booming economy. All things that make you safer and live longer. I just moved to London from Singapore and I don't understand why westerners put up with such high levels of cr…
And above all its safe to go for a run at night! ...unless it turns out to be illegal to go for a run at night, in which case it's terribly unsafe, and there's no way for a person from a "legal to run at night" country to know without checking. Now, you might say, "Well, that's ridiculous; there's no reason why it would be illegal to run at night," but I think I can come up with at least as good reasons for making th…
It's cheaper to fine the blood out of people for not flushing public toilets than to pay staff to check in every thirty minutes, and the reduction in costs (and maybe other things) means that Singapore has awesome public toilets.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not a fan of the death penalty. But to be afraid of dying in Singapore is silly. Singapore is probably the safest country on the planet. There is no crime. No natural disasters. A good, cheap medical system. A great transportation system. A booming economy. All things that make you safer and live longer. I just moved to London from Singapore and I don't understand why westerners put up with such high levels of cr…
I get all that in Japan without the jackboots. Japan has its own set of problems with regard to justice but nothing like Singapore. I do agree with you about London though. I was asked if I wanted to relocate there for work and gave an immediate 'no'. (I might have taken longer but I had just seen Harry Browne a few days before.) Point being, what you say about safety is true, but I don't think much of the credit bel…
This is the opposite of a sense of civic responsibility, and roughly translates as Chinese people don't trust each other to behave without strict police.
(I wish we could accept the same about my own country)
I love Singapore, except for the climate, which is oppressive. There is amazing hawker (street) food everywhere and, thanks for strict enforcement of health regulations, it's pretty cheap too. At least it was. It's been a few years since I was there. I kinda view Singapore as the Zurich of Asia. Zurich (and Switzerland in general) is very regulated (although Singapore more than Zurich; there are no rules against chew…
I think Berlin has managed to strike an excellent balance. It's quite safe, but has a uniquely vibrant artistic community and has as much "grit" or cleanliness as you like. I like Vietnam for similar reasons. It can be edgy but not really dangerous.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,748532,00...
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And above all its safe to go for a run at night! ...unless it turns out to be illegal to go for a run at night, in which case it's terribly unsafe, and there's no way for a person from a "legal to run at night" country to know without checking. Now, you might say, "Well, that's ridiculous; there's no reason why it would be illegal to run at night," but I think I can come up with at least as good reasons for making th…
Chewing gum is really expensive to clean up from streets, and they have invested a lot in having nice streets. It's just a cost/benefit thing. It's cheaper to fine the blood out of people for not flushing public toilets than to pay staff to check in every thirty minutes, and the reduction in costs (and maybe other things) means that Singapore has awesome public toilets.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chewing gum is really expensive to clean up from streets, and they have invested a lot in having nice streets. It's just a cost/benefit thing. It's cheaper to fine the blood out of people for not flushing public toilets than to pay staff to check in every thirty minutes, and the reduction in costs (and maybe other things) means that Singapore has awesome public toilets.
The stated reason for the ban was to reduce vandalism of the MRT. That doesn't make it obvious.
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Singapore's position on race is difficult to characterize. This is what I've heard: Most Singaporeans live in government-owned housing blocks. The distribution of the races within each housing block is roughly the same as in Singapore as a whole. Within these blocks, you are only allowed to sell your apartment to another person of the same race as yourself. Officially this is to promote "racial harmony." That's proba…
I know nothing about Singapore or their motivations for the racial integration, but the official response is at least plausible; see e.g. Schelling's segregation model: http://www.google.com/search?q=schelling+segregation+model There are several Java applets around that demonstrate the model.
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Chewing gum is really expensive to clean up from streets, and they have invested a lot in having nice streets. It's just a cost/benefit thing. It's cheaper to fine the blood out of people for not flushing public toilets than to pay staff to check in every thirty minutes, and the reduction in costs (and maybe other things) means that Singapore has awesome public toilets.
The stated reason for the ban was to reduce vandalism of the MRT. That doesn't make it obvious.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My friends Dad, travelling in the US, had the police order him off the street at gun point because he was jaywalking. I'm sure that is not the typical experience of most people, but I thought it an interesting anecdote after seeing the parents post...
>> had the police order him off the street at gun point because he was jaywalking. I simply don't believe your friend's dad was telling the truth. There are plenty of bad cops in the US, but drawing a gun on someone because they were jaywalking? I call bullshit.