SPIT IT OUT, PUNK
The 1994 arrest, trial, and caning of American expat Michael P. Fay for committing vandalism in Singapore drew international attention to the bizarrely draconian laws of the world’s tidiest city-state. Among the many offenses punishable by law (although thankfully not by caning) are jaywalking, public displays of affection, failing to flush public toilets after use, and bringing chewing gum into the city, even for personal use.
A ban on gum was considered as early as 1983 on the grounds that it increased the costs of maintenance, but it was only after vandals started sticking gum to the door sensors of Singapore’s new Mass Rapid Transit trains in 1992 (preventing the train from leaving) that the chewy menace was properly addressed.
For ten years it was only possible to obtain gum by traveling to Malaysia, but a bilateral free trade agreement between Singapore and the United States gave the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company a foot in the door to lobby the Singaporean government directly. Convinced of the benefits of sugarless tooth-enamel-building chewing gum, the Singaporeans allowed gum to be purchased with a doctor or dentist’s prescription in 2003. Another victory for freedom!