Sunday, January 28, 2007
Governance in Singapore - chewing gum ban
The chewing gum ban in Singapore was enacted in 1992 and revised in 2004. It bans the import
and sale of chewing gum in Singapore. Since 2004, chewing gum of therapeutic value has been allowed into Singapore following the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USS-FTA).
Chewing gum is banned in Singapore under the Regulation of Imports and Exports (Chewing Gum) Regulations. Except for chewing gum of therapeutic value, the "importing" of chewing gum into Singapore is absolutely banned.
A common misconception among citizens is that personal use quantities of chewing gum are allowed into Singapore. However, according to the set of Regulations, "importing" means to "bring or cause to be brought into Singapore by land, water or air from any place which is outside Singapore ..." any goods, even if they are not for purposes of trade. The set of Regulations also does not make any provisions for personal use quantities to be brought into Singapore. Therefore, bringing chewing gum into Singapore, even small quantities for whatever purpose, is technically prohibited.
In his memoir, Lee Kuan Yew recounted that as early as 1983, when he was still serving as Prime Minister, a proposal for the ban was brought up to him by the minister for national development. Chewing gum was causing serious maintenance problems in high-rise public housing flats, with vandals disposing of spent gum in mailboxes, inside keyholes and even on elevator buttons. Chewing gum left on floors, stairways and pavements in public areas increased the cost of cleaning and damaged cleaning equipment. Gum stuck on the seats of public buses also constantly vexed passengers. However, Lee thought that a ban would be "too drastic" and did not take action.
In 1987, the S$5 billion metro system, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), began operations. It was then the largest public project ever implemented in Singapore, and expectations were high. One of the champions of the project, Ong Teng Cheong, who later became the first democratically-elected President, declared," …the MRT will usher in a new phase in Singapore's development and bring about a better life for all of us."
It was then reported that vandals had begun sticking chewing gum on the door sensors of MRT trains, preventing the door from functioning properly and causing disruption of train services. Such incidents were rare but costly and culprits were difficult to apprehend. In January 1992, Goh Chok Tong, who had just taken over as Prime Minister, decided on a ban.
After the ban was announced, the import of chewing gum was immediately halted. However, a reasonable transition period was given to allow shops to clear their existing stocks. After that, the sale of chewing gum was completely terminated.
When first introduced, the ban naturally caused much controversy and some open defiance. Some took the trouble of traveling to neighbouring Malaysia Johor Bahru to purchase chewing gum. A few tried to bring back more than what is legally permitted. These offenders were publicly "named and shamed" by the government, to serve as a deterrent to other would-be smugglers. As time passed and the uproar died down, however, Singaporeans became accustomed to the lack of chewing gum. Surprisingly, no black market for chewing gum in Singapore ever emerged, though some Singaporeans occasionally did manage to smuggle some chewing gum from Johor Bahru for their own consumption.
My Views
In my opinion, i think that this ban of chewing in Singapore shows the principle of prgmatism of the Singapore government. I feel that this ban is necessary although it caused much controversy and some open defiance among the people. The government did not introduced this ban unnecessarily but it is because alot of people did not know how to care for the environment and anyhow stick the gum everywhere. Therefore, the government had no choice but to decide on a ban. They should know that it would not be easy to remove the gum and it would cause disruption and damage to property. Why didn't the people know how to take care of the environment? If they did, there wouldn't be a ban on chewing gums and both the people and government would not have so much trouble. Thus, I feel that the people shouldn't blame the government because it is they themselves who cause the ban to be introduced.
Furthermore, as time passed, people became used to not having chewing gums and no black market appeared, which is a good thing. This shows that actually we can survive without chewing gum. We do not 'need' it but we 'want' it. Besides, people nowadays go overseas so frequently and so they will of course get many chances to eat chewing gums. So i feel that it doesn't matter whether we can have it in Singapore or not.
For me, although i myself also likes to eat chewing and bubble gums, i will definitely not throw or stick it anywhere because I know how it feels when you got a gum stuck to your clothes or property. Therefore, I do not blame the government for introducing such a ban but instead sort of thank them for doing this.* my S H A T T E R E D dreams_
6:12 AM
Monday, January 22, 2007
hohoho.
finally created my ss blog.
yayy!! xD
* my S H A T T E R E D dreams_
3:30 AM
