Bans

There are souvenir T-shirts with the phrase “Singapore is a fine city” emblazoned across the front in big bold letters. There have been jibes about the tons of different types of fines there are in Singapore. Pretty soon, there’ll be a whole laundry list of things which are banned too.

Some existing bans which we are all too familiar with include the ban on chewing gum and the ban on smoking in various public places.

As with all restrictions imposed on Singaporeans, when these bans were first imposed, those who were affected griped, moaned, complained, sulked and cried their little hearts out. But still grew to live with the restriction eventually.

Not much of a choice anyway right? The people in white call the shots. Oh. Opps. I mean the government calls the shots.

And then there is the other category. Bans imposed by private entities.

A few of these have come under the spotlight recently. You hear about it on the radio, you read about it in the papers and online. People are complaining about human rights, unfair treatment, discrimination, yada yada. I read their comments with amusement.

For one, some restaurants in Singapore are banning children in their premises. And the number of restaurants going in this direction seems to be increasing. Their reason? Rowdy kids are a turn-off for other patrons.

For the other, 8 out of 10, if not all, condomimiums in Singapore are banning domestic helpers from using their swimming pools. Their reason? These domestic helpers always flout the rules. What rules? I don’t know, the reports did not elaborate. Maybe domestic helpers in bikinis and swimsuits lead to men going astray?

Anyway.

The former ignited a huge backlash from the community. Needless to say, especially from young parents and would-be young parents. Hell hath no fury like um, a parent denied his/her few remaining and rapidly depleting social excesses?

I say rapidly depleting because it seems like most peoples’ social lives dip drastically after a child appears in their lives. Correct me if I am wrong. But I don’t know any parent who still keeps playing mahjong from dusk to dawn every weekend after having a child.

I digress.

Class 95 deejay Glenn Ong has his own views on children and their parents. He said one day on the Morning Express that parents who do not know how to keep their kids in check should be banned from having children in the first place.

The devil in me agrees wholeheartedly. My blood pressure rises each time I see parents either ignoring or allowing their ill-behaved kids to continue behaving like spoilt brats or raving monkeys.

Then again, there are also the parents who manage to rein in their children and keep in them control. For these parents who cannot bring their children to a certain restaurant anymore and are unhappy about that fact, I say, no choice. Suck thumb lor. Live with it. Hey, I couldn’t have my chewing gum too because some assholes kept sticking their chewed up gums in between lift doors and on lift buttons.

A few inconsiderate black sheep leads to the whole herd being ostracized and penalised. Life’s unfair. Nobody ever said it was. :)

The latter ban. Domestic helpers not being able to use a condominium’s swimming pool.

Class 95 opened it up for discussion. Needless to say, a whole flurry of comments came in. Some for, most against. Most listeners seemed appalled at the discrimination. And said that it wasn’t a discrimination against race or anything. It was a discrimination against an occupation. (Strange how these people didn’t use the word “profession”.)

I agree that while such a ban seems discriminatory, a condo manager did highlight that most condos will still allow domestic helpers to use the pools, especially when they need to take care of the kids under their charge. But they will not hesitate to tell them to leave if they flout any rules or if any other condo resident complains.

Seems fair enough for me if these condos allow some bending of their own restrictions. Like most restrictions and rules, they are there not to be enforced all the time. But to allow someone to be able to enforce if and when the need to arises. In Singlish terms, “I close one eye but if people complain then I will catch.”

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I am under medication and am half drowsy.

It’s strange how much crap I can type out under the influence of drugs.I don't know if I am making sense actually. I let my fingers do the typing.

Oh, I am high.