"Damn, damn you," the cabbie shouts. That's an approximation, in
reality each curse began with the letter f. He quickly turns around
and apologizes unreservedly before giving his "welcome to
Singapore" spiel.
The cab had just driven through traffic lights on amber and
a camera had clicked. It was the second time it had happened to him
in three months. The taxi starts bleeping loudly but the driver
ignores the signal telling him that now he is breaking the speed
limit by five kilometres an hour. "I will now lose my licence and
be fined," he complains. "I drive for a living. Of course I will go
through the odd light that is changing to red. It's natural. They
are just far too strict."
"They'" is the government of Singapore or, as one local describes
it, "Daddy". The paternal government has kept watch since statehood
was achieved in 1965. And for...
