House Arrest For Wi-Fi Freeloading 17 year old Singapore teen sentenced Tuesday Jan 16 2007 16:04 EDT Tipped by Oregonian  From Singapore, the land where Bubble Yum is banned, the first teenager in the country's history has been sentenced for Wi-Fi freeloading. Seventeen-year-old Garyl Tan Jia Luo faced a maximum of three years in jail for the crime, but instead has been sentenced to 18 months' probation -- including time in a boy's home -- unless he is called up for mandatory Singapore military service. According to the judge, a social worker had reported Tan was addicted to online gaming, so the Judge also recommended Tan "receive assessment and treatment for the problem." He's also banned from accessing the Internet during the length of his probation. Singapore may want to hurry up and finish their country-wide wireless access plan before their jails overflow with Wi-Fi thieving menaces to society. |
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TradeoffsThis isn't any worse than the chewing gum ban. Most Singaporeans think that banning gum is a ridiculous law, but figure it's not worth giving up the benefits of living there just so they can chew gum.
Singaporeans are willing to trade some personal liberty for a society that offers personal safety, wealth and economic opportunities that don't exist in any other country in the region. They are also free to leave if they don't like it. A small fraction do emigrate for various reasons, not all because they don't agree with the laws. Most do not because they realize that moving to another country will involve making other tradeoffs that they may not like either.
A Singaporean emigrating to the U.S. would typically report the following:
They would likely not appreciate their newfound ability to traffic drugs without fear of execution. He/she may momentarily enjoy being able to chew gum, but wouldn't move the U.S. just so they can chew gum. They would find the gun laws in the U.S. ridiculously lax. Most won't appreciate the right to own guns even though most Singaporean men have several years of military training. A typical Singaporean would trade the freedom to chew gum, own guns (not to mention the ability to traffic drugs without fear of the death penalty), for the low crime rates of Singapore.
They would also find U.S. tax rates ridiculously high, our roads to be poorly maintained, although they would certainly enjoy the relatively low cost of buying an automobile in the U.S., not to mention the ridiculously low cost of gas. Should they become a crime victim, they would also find the judicial system to be severely lacking, where the criminal involved enjoys all sorts of legal protections, while the victim and their families suffer.
They would appreciate the low cost of land in or around most U.S. cities (NY city obviously doesn't qualify), but would wonder why such an advanced nation still built houses out of wood that collapsed during hurricanes.
In short, most Singaporeans like their country the way it is. There are some laws that they would like to see changed, but for the most part, they'd rather live there than anywhere else. | |
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