OPINION: Everybody Has An Opinion About Singapore - Bruce Spencer

USA Today, 4 Aug 2012
It seems like everybody has an opinion about Singapore, from my cat’s veterinarian, to friends and acquaintances, to people sitting next to me on the plane, and rarely is it a positive one. (Nevermind that most people couldn’t locate it on a map.)
Chalk it up to the infamous caning of American Michael P. Fay in 1994 for his conviction on vandalism and theft charges — four swift lashes to his bare white butt — or to the abhorrable breach of personal freedom that is being unable to walk into a convenience store to buy a pack of gum. Whatever it is, Singapore’s reputation, at least amongst many Americans, is one of a totalitarian police state where its straight-laced citizens go about their days in humorless silence, fearful of incurring Big Brother’s ever-watchful wrath, unable to express themselves, spending around $40 for a bottle of shitty wine. (The latter, at least, is unfortunately true.) Full story