Monday, February 2, 2015

Enforceable?

 The Singapore's Parliament just passed a bill that will ban the sale and public drinking from 10.30pm to 7am island-wide. The law is expected to take effect in April and I, for one, will be most interested in seeing how the police will enforce the law.

This is mainly because of the very loose definition of “public space” and the timing of the ban. I don’t just mean the question of why a coffee-shop would be considered a public space, but also how would the law be enforced! I mean would enforcement officers go to a wedding dinner (for example) to make sure no one can order more beer after 10.30pm? If a coffee-shop is a public space, why not a restaurant?

For those of you who would say the law was designed strictly for foreign workers; I agree. There's no other reason why foreign worker dormitories would be considered "public space otherwise but the problem is that the government felt a need to disguise the law. The need for pretense meant that the law, at least on the books, is for everyone in Singapore.

Good news; the law probably means that wedding dinners will end sooner. That is if it is enforceable.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

after 1 April 2015, why don't you drink in any public place after 10.30 pm and see what will happen to you ?

Anonymous said...

There goes your New Year Eve celebration :(

Ghost said...

Considering how "public space" is stated in the law, many people will be finding out.