One day in February, China and Singapore achieved mutual visa exemption. As soon as the policy news came out, the enthusiasm of Chinese tourists for Singapore was ignited instantly, with Ctrip data showing that the number of searches for Singapore travel surged by more than 1,200%. Nearly 10,000 people flew to Singapore at Shanghai Pudong Airport in three days alone, 15 times more than in the same period last year.
A large number of middle-class people are heading to Singapore for a long holiday in the hope of enjoying a laid-back holiday. However, after returning to China, many people found that after a holiday, they had "no pants left". This is not an exaggeration. Related topics quickly topped the hot search on Weibo, with 31 million views and more than 90,000 interactions, all of which were the wails of these tourists who "returned to poverty overnight".
Why is this happening? First of all, prices in Singapore are really high. The exchange rate between Singapore and RMB is about 1:535。An ordinary bottle of mineral water** can reach more than 10 yuan; And the ** of the local famous brand of happy water, even as high as 17 yuan a bottle, it is difficult to make people "happy". What's even more unbearable is the consumption of catering.
casually walk into a Western restaurant and order a few ordinary dishes, and it will cost more than 900 yuan for two people in total; And the well-known Malatang, a bowl of belly costs more than 200 yuan, which is really different from the domestic **.
If you can't eat out all the time, go back to the hotel and take a break. Who knows that in just 2 kilometers, the cost of taking a taxi is as high as 70 yuan. In such a "money-burning" situation, a day trip to Singapore is undoubtedly a nightmare for many Chinese people. Ironically, this is not the blackest place in Singapore. What is truly unacceptable is the "love and hate" draconian fines there.
Just feeding the pigeons once will be fined more than 2,000 yuan; If you eat on the subway, a fine of 1,800 yuan will be delivered to your door; If you are found using someone else's WiFi, you will be fined 5,000 yuan plus 3 years in prison. Even everyday actions such as not flushing the toilet and not cleaning up after eating can attract thousands of yuan in fines. It can be said that all the rule violations in Singapore are accompanied by staggering financial penalties.
In such a harsh environment, many Chinese tourists with "average quality" can only "superimpose buffs" in Singapore, and finally confiscate their "**". It is said that someone prepared a five-day budget, but the next day it was fined; There are also people who travel to Singapore from university and have violated local regulations 5 times, with a total fine of more than 20,000 yuan.
These tourists are all sad - although Singapore is good, it is too "expensive", and they probably will not come again in their lifetime.
However, what people didn't expect was that in the face of the "sky-high" fines, the reaction of many domestic netizens was the other extreme - they all called for Singapore's harsh measures!"No jaywalking, no spitting, no painting. Isn't that an essential quality that should all be adhered to? A netizen commented, "As long as you have the quality, you will not violate the rules if you go to **, and you will naturally not be fined."
This view is in one sentence. For example, in China, smoking is strictly prohibited on high-speed rail, but there are still elderly people who are found smoking in toilets. If such an act could cause a fire on a high-speed train, the consequences would be devastating. But even if such a person is discovered, he will only be criticized and educated, and it is difficult to ask what the price is from him.
In another incident, an elderly lady in Jiangsu Province slapped the medical staff twice because she felt pain during an infusion in the hospital. But the final punishment was only 9 days of detention and a fine of 500 yuan.
It can be seen that in our country, such behaviors that violate public morality and harm others are often "those who come do not refuse", because they do not need to pay the due price. And if these things happen in Singapore, for example, last year a Chinese influencer was sentenced to five weeks in prison and fined S$600 for insulting a Singapore hospital. Clearly, Singapore's harsh approach has taught these people a "lesson", which is what our society lacks.
Therefore, despite the frighteningly high face value, we have to admit that behind Singapore's sky-high fines is a kind of "love" - love for this society, love for rules and order, and love for every citizen. It acts as an important "pusher" for maintaining social civilization, so that those who go their own way and are lawless no longer have a chance to take advantage of it.
Of course, this kind of almost "pervasive" harsh method is obviously not very feasible in our country. But that doesn't mean we should continue to "swallow our anger" in the face of violence and vandalism.
On the contrary, the establishment of a similar heavy punishment mechanism can lead to this kind of behavior in society and bring public morality and order back on track.
February** Dynamic Incentive Program