6 ms·

It is, but original commenter was referring to societal progress which I found interesting.

f6v 6y ago
Never been to Singapore, but if there’s really low crime rate and people don’t litter on the streets - I’d call that progress.
- kbar13 6y ago
  i dont understand this focus on litter on the streets. yes clean streets is wonderful but i dont rank it anywhere near freedom of speech and social equality or something like standardized healthcare in importance. my hunch is that "clean streets" is mostly important to those who are not sensitive to social injustice...
  - michaelt 6y ago
    If you start from the proposition that the state implements the will of the people and the state's laws are just and true, then a strong state is a just state. After all, if you can't enforce anti-littering laws, how can you hope to enforce anti-discrimination laws? To be effective at convert the law's promises into reality is a good thing, if the laws are a good thing. Of course, I don't accept the proposition and I don't think anyone else does either - otherwise lawmakers would all have retired because their work was done.
  - f6v 6y ago
    Yeah well, people have different priorities.
- jesterson 6y ago
  If you'd stay here for a while, you'd understand why there is low crime rate and no litter on the street. What even probably surprise you more is why it's happening and what it has to do with progress. Short answer - nothing.
  - f6v 6y ago
    I can’t argue with you cause I don’t live there. But everywhere I live people complain and say government isn’t doing anything.
- ValentineC 6y ago
  Singaporean here. There's low violent crime, but I wouldn't suggest that people leave their wallets and phones around in a public area. Some people still litter on the streets, and it's shameful if one gets caught by law enforcement [1]. Singapore hires lots of cleaners to clean it up. We're nowhere as gracious as the residents of Japan or Taiwan. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrective_work_order https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrective_work_order
  - ekianjo 6y ago
    > We're nowhere as gracious as the residents of Japan or Taiwan. I don't know enough about Taiwan to comment, but the 'cleanliness' of Japanese is exaggerated in many ways: 1) there's a very large population of smokers and I see them everyday throwing their cigarette butts on the streets. 2) yes, Japanese tend to be quite clean when people are looking (social pressure). However, go in places where nobody's there or nobody's watching, like mountains, and you will see massive amounts of litter dropped by hikers. Go on a beach that's not too frequented, and find out someone did a barbecue party the night before and left all their trash behind. Come back from a firework at night and watch your step as you walk on thousands of plastic bento boxes dropped on the floor after consumption. So, let's tone down the myths a little.

f6v 6y ago

Never been to Singapore, but if there’s really low crime rate and people don’t litter on the streets - I’d call that progress.

kbar13 6y ago
i dont understand this focus on litter on the streets. yes clean streets is wonderful but i dont rank it anywhere near freedom of speech and social equality or something like standardized healthcare in importance. my hunch is that "clean streets" is mostly important to those who are not sensitive to social injustice...
- michaelt 6y ago
  If you start from the proposition that the state implements the will of the people and the state's laws are just and true, then a strong state is a just state. After all, if you can't enforce anti-littering laws, how can you hope to enforce anti-discrimination laws? To be effective at convert the law's promises into reality is a good thing, if the laws are a good thing. Of course, I don't accept the proposition and I don't think anyone else does either - otherwise lawmakers would all have retired because their work was done.
- f6v 6y ago
  Yeah well, people have different priorities.
jesterson 6y ago
If you'd stay here for a while, you'd understand why there is low crime rate and no litter on the street. What even probably surprise you more is why it's happening and what it has to do with progress. Short answer - nothing.
- f6v 6y ago
  I can’t argue with you cause I don’t live there. But everywhere I live people complain and say government isn’t doing anything.
ValentineC 6y ago
Singaporean here. There's low violent crime, but I wouldn't suggest that people leave their wallets and phones around in a public area. Some people still litter on the streets, and it's shameful if one gets caught by law enforcement [1]. Singapore hires lots of cleaners to clean it up. We're nowhere as gracious as the residents of Japan or Taiwan. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrective_work_order https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrective_work_order
- ekianjo 6y ago
  > We're nowhere as gracious as the residents of Japan or Taiwan. I don't know enough about Taiwan to comment, but the 'cleanliness' of Japanese is exaggerated in many ways: 1) there's a very large population of smokers and I see them everyday throwing their cigarette butts on the streets. 2) yes, Japanese tend to be quite clean when people are looking (social pressure). However, go in places where nobody's there or nobody's watching, like mountains, and you will see massive amounts of litter dropped by hikers. Go on a beach that's not too frequented, and find out someone did a barbecue party the night before and left all their trash behind. Come back from a firework at night and watch your step as you walk on thousands of plastic bento boxes dropped on the floor after consumption. So, let's tone down the myths a little.