Laws of Singapore
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Laws in Singapore are generally strict and aimed at instilling a self-disciplined society with restrictions and harsh punishments, for example caning and execution. Even the idea has been poked fun at by its citizens, who remark that "Singapore is a fine city" ("fine" referring to a monetary fine).
Singapore is one of the safest countries in the world, with low incidence of violent crimes. Both locals and tourists generally feel safe in the country.
Currently, pornography, oral sex (except as a precursor to regular intercourse), and anal sex are illegal in Singapore. Magazines, movies and TV shows have to undergo government classification before being released to the general public and sales of several kinds of newspapers and magazines has been banned or restricted. Various minor offences could lead to heavy fines and caning while first-degree murder and drug trafficking in over 15 g of heroin carry a mandatory death penalty. The end result of these policies has been the hanging of more than 400 people in Singapore between 1991 and 2004, mostly for drug trafficking; due to this, Singapore has one of the highest execution rates in the world relative to population. Science fiction writer William Gibson has described Singapore as "Disneyland with the death penalty" [1] in Wired magazine. Chewing gum has been recently legalized as part of a U.S trade agreement. Bans on bar top dancing and bungee jumping have also been lifted.
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History
For most of the 19th century the criminal law which was applied in the Three Straits Settlement of Singapore, Penang and Malacca was that of England, in so far as local circumstances were permitted. There was little doubt that English common law crimes were recognised in these territories at the time. Certain problems, such as the application of certain Indian Acts, however, arose in 1871 and the Straits Settlements Penal Code was passed. It came into operation on 16 September 1872. The Code is practically a re-enactment of the Indian Penal Code.
The original Code, as amended on numerous occasions, presently states the law of Singapore. The most recent amendment was made by the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 1984 which came into effect on 31 August 1984. The effect of this amendment was that minimum penalties were provided for certain offences. The last major amendment of the Code prior to 1984 took place in 1973 when punishments for certain offences were enhanced.
Prior to 1870 the law relating to Criminal Procedure in force in Singapore was mainly found in the Indian Act XVI of 1852. As a consequence of the passing of the Straits Settlements Penal Code in 1871, the Criminal Procedure Ordinance V of 1870 was passed which replaced the Criminal Procedure Act XVI of 1852 but continued the English system of Criminal Procedure and made it applicable to the Penal Code. This was found impracticable as the Penal Code did away with the division of crimes into felonies and misdemeanours and the Criminal Procedure Ordinance VI of 1873 was passed accordingly. The Ordinance VI of 1873 marked the passage of the English Criminal Law in favour of the Indian. The Ordinance did away with indictments and instituted charges for all criminal offences; it abolished the Grand Jury and Special and Common Juries.
A new Code of Criminal Procedure was enacted in 1902. The present Code was passed by the Legislative Council on 28 January 1955. It repeals and re-enacts with the amendments the previous Code. All offences under the Penal Code are inquired into and tried according to the Criminal Procedure Code. Source: Electric Law Library
Examples of current laws
Here are some examples of laws currently in effect:
- The sale of chewing gum was forbidden for 12 years until May 2004, where the sale of chewing gum for medical or dental purposes from a pharmacist only was approved by the government, gum sold as candy still remains prohibited. However, those who buy nicotine chewing gum, must present identification and have a doctor's prescription. Normal chewing gum like Orbit sugar-free gums require the buyers to produce their identification only. If the pharmacist does not take the name of the buyer, they could face a SGD 3,000 fine.
- Heavy fines and Corrective Work Order are levied on people who spit or litter in public areas.
- Eating and drinking on public transit also carry heavy fines.
- Car ownership is curbed through a government scheme in which car owners must bid for a Certificate of Entitlement (COE).
Censorship
Press
- Pornography is not allowed;, e.g. Playboy and certain other 'adult/porno' magazines are not allowed, however other magazines containing "mature content" like Cosmopolitan Magazine are free to be distributed at all stores with a "Parental Warning/not suitable for the young" logo on its covers.
- Foreign newspapers and magazines may have their sales or circulation restricted. These include the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review, either only being available in "gazetted" form (photocopied to a limited number of subscribers, with advertising blanked out) or unavailable.
- The sale of Malaysian newspapers in Singapore is prohibited; a similar ban on the sale of newspapers from Singapore applies in Malaysia.
- Certain political material is not allowed.
- Material which may outrightly disturb religious and racial harmony is not allowed.
- Reporters sans Frontieres has ranked Singapore as 147th out of 167 surveyed countries in terms of freedom of the press. [2]
Films and videos
Depiction of sex and nudity is restricted at the various mature ratings (NC16,M18,R21); movies containing graphic nudity, explicit sex or high levels of strong graphic violence are usually categorised as Restricted 21 (R21). Any outright denigration of race or religion, matters that threaten national interest, or depictions of hardcore pornographic, offensive or deviant sexual activities are banned.
A short documentary called A Vision of Persistence on opposition politiician J. B. Jeyaretnam was also banned for being a "political film". The makers of the documentary, all lecturers at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic, later submitted written apologies and withdrew it from being screened at the 2001 Singapore International Film Festival in April, having been told they could be charged in court.
In a more recent case, another short documentary called Singapore Rebel by Martyn See Tong Ming, which documented Singapore Democratic Party leader Dr Chee Soon Juan's acts of civil disobedience, was banned from the 2005 Singapore International Film Festival for being a "political film". By contrast, Channel News Asia's five-part documentary series on Singapore's PAP ministers in 2005 were not considered as such.
Broadcasting
Two major companies SPH Holdings and MediaCorp (both recently merged) have a virtual monopoly of the media industry. Mediacorp is a state owned company, while SPH is partly owned by Temasek Holdings, government-backed investment company. Private ownership of satellite dishes is banned, though international TV broadcasts (such as CNN, BBC, etc) are available on StarHub's cable TV service. Owing to the Government's policy of promoting Mandarin Chinese, for many years local television was not allowed to show programmes in Cantonese, meaning that popular TV serials from Hong Kong had to be dubbed into Mandarin. Similarly, local newspapers were not allowed to carry listings for Malaysia's TV3, which showed programmes in Cantonese. However, Hong Kong's TVB, broadcasting in Cantonese, is now available on cable, although TV3 is not.
Internet
Internet services provided by the three major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are subject to regulation by the Media Development Authority to block websites containing material that may be a threat to public security, national defense, racial and religious harmony and public morality, and Police are given broad powers to intercept messages online. The Ministry of Education, Singapore blocks access to pornographic and similar objectionable internet sites on its proxy servers, but this practice is common throughout the world's educational establishments.
In September 2005, 3 people have been arrested and charged with sedition for posting racist comments on the Internet, of which two have been sentenced to imprisonment. There are growing fears of the chilling effect with the increasing threat of legal action, including a warning by the Teachers' Union to sue students who defame teachers on their blogs.
Drug trafficking
- Narcotics laws established by the Misuse of Drugs Act are very strict.
- Anyone caught with more than or equal to 13 g (0.5 ounces) of heroin, 28 g (1 ounce) of morphine or 480 g (17 ounces) of cannabis faces mandatory capital punishment. From 1991-2004, 400 people have been hanged in Singapore, mostly for drug trafficking, the highest execution rate in the world relative to population. See Singapore Government's response to accusations regarding its use of capital punishment.
Riots and strikes
Riots and strikes are banned in Singapore due to security reasons. Past experiences of riots and strikes left a terrible and violent mark on Singapore. For example , there was the racial riots which turn violent and left many dead. Currently, peaceful demonstrations are also banned to prevent things to turn ugly and violent. However, opposition parties have accused the Government's move to ban demonstrations as an political move. This is because civilians will not be able to voice out their discontent in Singapore. Loitering in groups of more than 6 is also considered as rioting in Singapore. Force would be used to stop fierce rioting .For example, during the 60s, a group of police was formed to dissolve the increasing number of gangs. The methods used by the police were effective but violent. The "red car" is now a notorious name among Singaporeans. Whenever someone shouts "red car" , people would flee immediately. This is because the police would usually drag people with tattoos or with high suspicion of being a gangster into the "red car". Doors of the car would be shut simultaneously, whereby the police would immediately throw punches and kicks at the suspect. Usually the suspect would be handicapped with 3 police in the car. This lead to fear in many people, people with tattoos begin to use desperate ways to clear their tattoos such as using corrosive acids on their skins.
Sexual offences
Sex deemed by the Government to be "against the order of nature", including anal sex and oral sex (except as a precursor to conventional intercourse), is criminalised by section 377 of the Singapore Penal Code, though the latter has only infrequently been enforced. Prostitution is tolerated in designated red-light districts.
Homosexuality in Singapore is not illegal, but homosexual acts are considered "against the order of nature" as well. This issue is being actively addressed, however, by the Singapore gay equality movement. The Singaporean government is trying to shed its homophobic image and indeed, large-scale outdoor gay parties had been discreetly approved by the authorities since 2001. These parties were advertised throughout Southeast Asia and attracted a large audience until a conservative backlash beginning in 2004, attributed to the alarming increase in HIV infection within the gay community, put a stop to their official sanctioning.
Recent developments
In recent years, the Singaporean government has relaxed some of the stricter laws. For example, bungee jumping is no longer illegal. Film censorship has also been strongly relaxed. There are also several signs that the government is considering relaxing a number of laws concerning sex.
It is of note that while some archaic laws do remain from British common law, the judiciary usually does not deliberately enforce these laws. For instance, while possession of pornography is illegal, no known checks have been made. However, in 2004, Chief Justice Yong Pung How sentenced a 25-year-old former policeman, Annis Abdullah, to jail for 12 months for receiving oral sex from a teenage girl. In his statement he said that despite growing permissiveness in some countries there were "certain offences that are so repulsive in Asian culture".
An American teenager, Michael Fay, aroused passionate media interest from the United States after he was caught vandalising Singaporean cars in 1994. There was a formal request by the American government not to carry out the sentence, which was caning. Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew called American practices "soft" and denied the appeal, although the number of strokes given was lessened. Fay was caned and interest in the incident has fallen since.
However, the government has relaxed censorship laws plentifully. For example, in 2002, it introduced a new movie rating category allowing 18-year-olds to view more mature content (M18), besides the old,outdated NC-16 and R(A) ratings.More Sexually explicit Content can be viewed in the respective R-ratings (NC16, M18, R21). DVDs and VCDs are rated up to M18 currently. Also, the country's only cable TV network, StarHub, has allowed a number of programmes (e.g Sex and the City) containing restricted content to be viewed under the ratings 16 and 18 after 10 pm. However, the films/series shown still have to be cut in order to prevent minors from being exposed to the edited, but nevertheless, presence of adult content/themes.
On 18 April 2005, the government allowed two integrated resorts to build casinos. Both are expected to be operational by year 2009. However, locals who wish to enter the casinos must pay a daily entry fee of S$100 or an annual entry pass of S$2,000. This is to discourage locals from placing precious domestic Singaporean money into the hands of foreign casino operators. The entry fees will be used to educate and counsel Singaporeans that have gambling habits. The government hopes that by having casinos, it will boost the tourism industry, which has been declining in recent years.
