 Singapore is known to have some of the strictest laws in the world and some of the harshest punishments for them and they just did something they haven't done in 20 years. Yeah, this is going really viral right now. There's obviously thousands and thousands of comments on a variety of different platforms. Some people are going against it. Some people agree with it. Some people are in the middle. We're going to do our best to cover some of the comments, our own takeaways. Make sure you like, subscribe, turn on your notifications. I'm going to go ahead and say from silly to serious Andrew, I'm going to go ahead and put this one in the serious category because for the first time in 20 years, Singapore executed a woman that was found guilty of drug trafficking. She admitted to it in court, but it wasn't the hugest amount either. I believe I want to say it was like 31 grams. The limit is 15 grams and that's what caused such a firestorm internationally. Yeah, and a lot of people are saying, oh, this is inhumane, it's barbaric, especially the whole idea of like, I guess hanging somebody still. And it also just led a lot of people to ask like, okay, what other countries do capital punishment and like, what are ways that you can actually fight drug trafficking and also, hey, it's just Singapore. They just have strict laws, period. Yeah, and what are the pros and the cons and the implications for how potentially, I guess what, soft on drugs, the Western world has become. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I just want to put it in perspective and I'm not like for or against it, but I do want to note that Japan still has capital punishment, especially for murder and they, the way that they do it and there's many ways to execute people but a lot is by firing squad and hanging still. South Korea still has capital punishment even though they haven't exercised in 10 years and actually 20 states in America can still dish out capital punishment. Right, so you're referring to sort of the more Western allies because we all know there is a lot of capital punishment in China as well. China and the Middle East, a lot. Yeah, right. But do you think that people are judging Singapore differently because it is arguably the third largest financial hub in the world, Andrew? I believe it goes New York, London, Singapore. So people are kind of considering it like, you know, they speak a lot of English there. It was a former British colony. They're judging it on a different standard. Yeah, but I guess, and usually the standard in Asia, let's be honest, is Japan. Japan's often times the standard. So I think comparing it to Japan and Singapore, they both have pretty strict drug trafficking laws. But Singapore is stricter than Japan even. Singapore is stricter than Japan. No doubt, guys, do not do drugs or try to sell drugs in Singapore. Do just do not do it. Amnesty International said in a statement earlier this week, we call on the international community, particularly states that have abolished this death penalty in law practice to help halt this inhumane, ineffective, and discriminatory practice in Singapore. And obviously, you know, Singapore, they didn't directly respond to that, but they've made statements very consistent for several decades now, right? Yeah, and the law minister himself, this guy right here, he even said like, there's a lot of other countries in Asia who have legalized marijuana or loosened up. Even their laws on marijuana and it has not helped them. That's what he said. Right, they've been bad for their society. That's what his stance was, right? Now, obviously, Amnesty International, they also make an argument saying like, hey guys, you know, capital punishment, it hasn't really helped the drug things as much as... Anyways, there's debate going back and forth, guys. But anyways, we're going to get into the comment section. But Lee Kuan Yew has been talking about this for decades and decades, right? Oh, Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore, guys, no doubt, man. He has always stressed that a lot of the drug dealing drugs, it doesn't just ruin that family, it ruins a bunch of families, and that's why... And he has been very... He was very, very unwavering on that. They have a zero tolerance for anybody, men and women who are caught selling drugs, by the way. Somebody said it doesn't sound like this woman was thinking rationally horrible that they executed her when she likely could have been linked with treatment, both for her addiction and mental illness, and offered some restorative justice-based sentencing alternative. Some people said their government is sociopath, they're a dystopian police state. Somebody said vengeance using violence is the mark of vigilantes and fascists, not of a civilized society. The UK banned capital punishment in the 1960s, and there's never been a public demand for its return, et cetera, et cetera. David, I think that most people would agree that in a perfect world, in a perfect world that if you're just somebody who was caught with too much drugs, you know, but you weren't doing anything violent with it, that there is some restorative way to get you back in a society and make you not do it again. But I think for a Singapore's issue, which I understand it's a very small place, and they just don't have the prison space, and they're like, dude, if we lock up all these criminals who are found with drugs, we cannot, like, we have to just keep building more prisons more and more. Yeah, I mean, I think it's pretty clear to be honest to everybody what the punishments are if you get caught. So, I mean, like I said, guys, it's tough to say. I can see why there's a lot of violent arguments on all sides. Of course, I'm not supporting anything really bad happening to everybody, but I don't support bad things that occur because of a very hyperactive bad drug scene in the country either, right? Somebody said, I hate all the drug lords, the real one running the drug syndicate and making all the money and likely do not even take drugs. They're not, only the mules get punished. Yeah, yeah, I think this is a big argument where basically you're just end up punishing the people that are the lowest rung on the organization, the people of the last person who's caught with the contraband and the product, you know what I mean? The lowest rung are the latter, right? Yeah, and those are not the people who are doing the international stuff, you know, obviously, who are running the scene. So, I do think that's tough, but also, like, I'm sure Singapore, because it also has low corruption, is going after those drug kingpins as well. Somebody said, oh, everybody's a criminology expert now. If you look at the statistics, most offenders re-offend. Now go back to your room. They're talking about recidivism and things like that. Somebody said, listen, when people turn to drugs and especially start selling drugs, it is due to bad company and the vices that entice them through peer pressure, through broken family and not seeking help or counseling, unable to deal, manage, and cope with life-stressing, arising from studies or work or being unnoticed by teachers or parents or lack of family love and spiritual love peace within oneself. So basically, someone was like, well, how do you account for that? Because, like, there's so much things that go into it and I guess this is what this person's theory is for why the re-offence rate is so high. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. There's a lot of things in society that create people who do things that are deemed really bad, right? Exactly, yeah. There's this one user that said Singapore is ranked as the third safest city in the world and they aim to keep that way. Yes, the sentencing is definitely extreme, but if you have grown up in Singapore, you know that the laws are very, very tough and everybody is aware of them. I would not want to see America become like Singapore, but it proves that tough laws and enforcement will always reduce crime, always. In America, our legal system goes out of its way to make excuses for crime and criminal behavior so we reap the results. I mean, I guess is this just a reap what you sow type situation? You can still get caned in Singapore if you graffiti, vandalize people's cars, break their window. You could still get caned. You could get fined $500 about equivalent USD for spitting gum if you're caught on camera and they identify that it's you. Listen, you guys ever walked into your friends' home growing up and their, like, room was spotless, the bed was clean, everything was folded correctly? Do you think that kid learned to do that without one of their parents at least yelling at them? So I'm saying, like, I guess to an extent it's kind of like Western people who are living across the street from Singapore looking into the window being like, oh, what's Singapore doing? Man, they're spanking their kids for just talking back? That's crazy. And then Singaporeans are overlooking into the American window being like, what are you doing? Your room is so messy. Look at your house. It's just like families run things differently. Look at your house, look at your family, look at what your daughter and your son are out in the streets doing. I would never want that. Somebody says, I know it's very difficult for us in America to grasp the idea of the kind of penalty for that level of crime, but everything is a trade-off. Basically, somebody saying drug dealing is more of a calculated decision and a certain weight of harder drugs. It is almost certain that your drug dealing actions will have contributed to the death of another user. It's a very slippery slope, though. But basically, once a drug scene, this person was just saying, once a drug scene infests a country or a community, there's just so much bad things that arise from it. So how can you say nipping it at the bud, even though it seems extreme? How do you weigh those out? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think to be honest, I think that if Singapore is not able to take down the drug kingpins, like the people behind the scenes, it is supposed to discourage people from getting involved in the drug game, you know what I mean? Which if people have no fear of going into that life, then more people are gonna likely to do it because the payoffs are great. Of course, Andrew, there was a lot of geopolitical arguing somebody was like Singaporean. The Singapore is a sovereign government that does not mess around. They can enforce them how they see fit without any interference from international tribunals. Obviously, Amnesty International and these things that we're trying to issue statements, there's actually no hope that it will impact the actual outcome, right? They're trying to say something philosophically. Yeah, yeah, there's nothing that they can do about Singapore, but I think what they can do is like, I guess... Increase international scrutiny, right? Yeah, I guess so, but I think at the end of the day, actually a lot of countries low-key agree with Singapore. Yeah, I don't think that they think that's a perfect solution, but they're probably looking at the other problems that have snowballed potentially within their jurisdiction where they're like, I don't know, I'd make the trade right now. I mean, Singapore is an extremely disciplinary country, like to the point where you could say Singapore is not as fun as other countries because it's so strict, but that's also, you know, don't go there to make it America then. Somebody said this was arguing between Singapore and Singapore and somebody said, hey, listen, guys, if you guys want to use drugs, it's your own business. Stop watching your neighbor's business. And someone said, what do you mean? It's definitely my business. If you want to do drugs, move the hell out of SG. There was a lot of arguing, people saying, yes, there should be some punishments, but it shouldn't be as harsh as it is. It's not as much as bad as what big pharma is doing and stuff like that. Somebody said the USA had 100,000 deaths last year due to drug overdose. We should consider harsher punishments. People are robbing neighborhood kids from any chance to grow up and succeed, whether they are addicted or they're brought into the game, you know, the street life. And a lot of people were saying, no, it's more about big pharma, even more than cartels, but they both play into it. So it clear, it's clear, Andrew, that there's a lot of layers to this that we can't even get to because I'm talking about, like there was tens and tens of thousands of comments all over the place. Yeah, and I do agree that obviously, like when it comes to big pharma and stuff, they are also, you know, very responsible for a lot of opioids and things like that. But obviously, that's like a different conversation. Oh, Andrew, this is a great comment to end on. Somebody said, we have the ability to stop this, but let's be honest, some politicians and law enforcement representatives and their kids like drugs too. So sadly, it's never going to improve because there's too much division in the USA. Interesting comment. Andrew, let's just get into our takeaways. You know, like I said, I think this is a very complex issue and there's a reason why anytime something happens, it sparks like tens of thousands of comments. And they seem like they were so strong on either end. You know, I don't love the super strict laws in Singapore, but I do think that that is what has helped Singapore become what it is. And so I guess my question is, is there an example of another place like Singapore that has much more loose laws and is still doing very well in the way that they want? Because I think different countries have different goals. I think Singapore's goal is to keep it safe, clean, financially stable and low corruption. Like, I think that that's it, right? It is in the area of the world that historically is known for like a heroin trade. Yeah, it's very high. It's in Southeast, it's right in where a lot of like the trade is going on there. So no doubt, you know, it's tough. So they have to keep a super lockdown. But I guess what are other examples? What are other case studies where it works? Because right now it would seem like across the world and in America, the narrative is that we're not harsh enough on drugs, right? Right, and things are getting out of control in some sections of some cities, right? So it's a general macro sentiment. And it's kind of interesting that at this time people are still making this argument like, yo, it'll go easier on the drugs. I get it that there's certain regulations for marijuana is on the drug, blah, blah, blah. And the people come from broken homes and broken homes may have a much higher probability of getting into that slipstream or that funnel which is like a difficult tornado to get out of. Does it disproportionately affect poor people than rich people? Sure, I would bet, you know what I mean? But I guess what's the alternative system? I mean, man, everybody makes trade-offs, man. And I think that's just how it is. Even if we're going to bring it to a more relatable level, Andrew, everybody at church had a different strictness level of parent, right? I mean, we went to a Chinese church, I would say most parents are like stricter on average. Like the median parent is somewhat strict. But even there, you saw a huge range, right? And usually, not all the time, Andrew, it's not 100 out of 100. The parenting style statistically has a certain probability associated with the outcome of the kids. Yeah. The looser kids sometimes have more volatile outcomes, but at the same time, sometimes they ended up OK, too. Anyway, let us know what you guys think in the comment section below. Keep it civil. Until next time, we're the Hop-Up Boys. We out. Peace.