I’m torn here. I think it’s a good thing that they have lower crime in Singapore, but still…
also sounds like Michael Fay was immediately kicked out of Singapore after serving his sentence for the US to have to deal with his shit.
To be fair, if you implemented their way of discipline here, people will start to yell racism before it even begins.
No!
I think caning is not something that most upper middle class AVPs have to worry about.
He loved the climate, how clean everything is, how affordable everything is, the top notch private school he sent his son to, and probably more that I’m forgetting.
He did catch dengue fever though, and that sounded like a real drag.
He said the Singaporean government doesn’t allow standing water, and they have inspectors who come around and check private property and they will fine you if you have standing water. Even like from puddles if it’s more than like 2 cm deep. So if you accidentally drove into your grass and left a tire track more than 2 cm deep, you’ve got to get it filled so rain water won’t collect and allow mosquitoes to breed. I’m not positive that the cutoff is 2 cm, but a cutoff exists and is enforced.
As long as it’s done in private by a specialist.
Wow. I think it’s also illegal in a number of places in Africa. I know on my Africa trips my church group was warned that not only is pornography illegal, but pictures of kids in bathing suits could potentially be considered child pornography that could land us in a heap of trouble.
You prefer your authoritarianism masked, Mr Fritz? 
with the direction that the US is going, I wouldn’t be surprised that this becomes law here
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Uh, I see the US going in the opposite direction, actually. Dress codes requiring skirts and shorts to be a minimum length are labeled “sexist”.
I can’t see bathing suits being outlawed.
Authoritarianism can be pretty great if your on the right side
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huh? maybe ur thinking adults only. The US is extremely puritan when it comes to kids
Probably true - but are they more or less puritanical than in the past?
With regards to kids? More. Elementary school teachers used to be allowed to hug the kids.
First of all, elementary teachers can absolutely hug kids. In fact just last night I was looking through my niece’s 2020-2021 yearbook and there were several yearbook photos of teachers hugging kids. I’m making the leap that if there’s a yearbook photo of it, it’s probably not something that the teacher will get in trouble for.
I’m not sure about junior high & high school. When I was in college taking teacher ed classes they said the “touch zone” was between the shoulder and wrist. But that wasn’t based on any kind of rule… more of a CYA / you definitely won’t get sued or lose your job if you do it this way kind of thing. I taught in several districts and was never made aware of any policies regarding touching kids. I’m not sure what (if anything) my college taught the elementary teachers. The “touch zone” was mentioned in the context of not forming or encouraging romantic feelings between teachers and students and it was in a course that was specific to grades 7-12 teachers. The K-8 teachers had their own version of the course and I don’t know what theirs said on the topic. I very much doubt it said no hugging though.
Absolutely positively less.
Comparing my mother’s experience with mine and my niece’s…
My mother wasn’t allowed to wear pants to public school. Skirts and dresses only, and they had to be below the knee. I always had the option of wearing pants and I’d be shocked if there were any public schools that didn’t allow girls to wear pants in this day & age. I’d be somewhat surprised if there were private schools that didn’t allow it, for that matter.
My (un-air-conditioned) first elementary school didn’t allow kids to wear shorts past 1st grade, although when I moved states between 3rd & 4th grade the new school (in a more conservative state) allowed kids to wear shorts through 4th grade.
And then when I was halfway through 6th grade they changed the rule to allow all students K-12 to wear shorts but only in August, September, May, and June. Shorts and skirts had to be two inches below your fingertips.
In junior high or high school at some point they changed the rule to be that the skirts & shorts had to be as long as your fingertips (so two inches shorter than the previous rule). And I believe they extended the shorts-wearing season to something like October 15 and April 15. The rules on when you could wear shorts changed a bunch of times and my recollection is a bit fuzzy.
My niece can wear pants, shorts, skirts year round. I believe she is subject to the fingertip rule.
I was also never allowed to have my shoulders uncovered at school. My niece can do this no problem.
I had sex ed in school. Twice, actually. In 8th and 9th grade. This included a frank discussion about pregnancy, various birth control methods and how effective they were, STDs and methods to reduce STD and pregnancy risk. Yes, they mentioned the only surefire method was abstinence but they also mentioned other ways to reduce risk such as condoms and the difference between latex and natural. Also discussed was how to buy them. Like, you need a prescription for birth control pills but not for condoms… that sort of thing.
My mother mentioned that when she and my father got married she had to show the pharmacist (or maybe her MD or perhaps both?) a copy of her marriage license in order to get a diaphragm because they were only legal for married women. I’m pretty sure those laws are gone these days.
I’m not really seeing any evidence on the “more puritanical” side.