My mom and dad are in Singapore for three months. Dad is heading up the Integrity Media regional branch while they find someone to take over there.

Some interesting facts about Singapore…well, I thought so anyway:

Oral sex, public spitting, and failing to flush public toilets are all illegal, although bar-top dancing and bungee jumping are no longer. Importation of chewing gum used to be against the law, but the US insisted that Singapore end its ban on selling the substance in order to join in a free trade agreement. (Apparently, Wriggly has some really powerful lobbyists.) Sugar-free gum is now available…but only sold by dentists or pharmacists, who also have to record the buyers’ names. In all this time, there has never developed a black market for gum.

Singapore gets about half the water it needs from rainwater. The rest it imports from Malaysia.

Singapore used to be part of Malaysia, which kicked the island out in 1965, forcing it to become a sovereign nation.

Singapore is the second highest most densely populated country in the world, right behind Monaco.

Singapore has one of the highest per capita gross domestic products in the world and unemployment is at only around 3%. Yet 84% of the population live in public housing.

Serious offenses like murder and drug trafficking are punishable by hanging. Amnesty International claims that Singapore has hanged 400 people since 1991, “possibly the highest execution rate in the world.” But the government claims this figure is exaggerated. Still, Singapore enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

Singapore is also the world’s biggest bunkering hub with 23.6 million tonnes of bunkers sold in 2004.

Can anyone tell me what the heck a bunker is?