Tori, Anna and I love gum. Stride, wintergreen is our favorite. Jakeb and Tommy hardly ever chew gum so they couldn't care less. We have read and heard from various sources that Singapore is a pretty strict place in terms of cleanliness, among other things. We have to make a detailed listing of every video we're bringing in for their strict censorship laws.
One of the things we have read and heard is that gum is not allowed. I had told Anna early on that surely we can bring gum with us and chew it in our home. Undercover, if you will. Then I read on the governments' customs website that gum is strictly prohibited so not to even bring it in. Really???
If you know me, you know that I am completely willing to comply to rules. We're going to live in their country and we should abide by their rules. I'm totally fine with that but I just have a real hard time believing that chewing gum does not exist in a modern, civilized country. So, I emailed a trusted source, whose name I won't mention to protect her privacy, :) who lives in Singapore and she said that indeed, gum is there. It's true that you can't buy it there as stores are not allowed to sell it, but it's there. People buy it in other airports or on their trips back home or they go across the border on the weekends and bring it in. She said they all chew it but they just don't throw it on the ground or stick it under their bus seat. It's such a relief to know they're not going to catch you chewing and make you spit it out like your 3rd grade teacher and then haul you off to prison.
I decided to google "the truth about gum in Singapore" and this blog post came up. I laughed out loud. You have to go read it.
So, we're taking some gum, and we'll chew it in our home and dispose of our contraban before leaving the house. If we forget to spit it out, I guess we'll have to swallow it.
One of the things we have read and heard is that gum is not allowed. I had told Anna early on that surely we can bring gum with us and chew it in our home. Undercover, if you will. Then I read on the governments' customs website that gum is strictly prohibited so not to even bring it in. Really???
If you know me, you know that I am completely willing to comply to rules. We're going to live in their country and we should abide by their rules. I'm totally fine with that but I just have a real hard time believing that chewing gum does not exist in a modern, civilized country. So, I emailed a trusted source, whose name I won't mention to protect her privacy, :) who lives in Singapore and she said that indeed, gum is there. It's true that you can't buy it there as stores are not allowed to sell it, but it's there. People buy it in other airports or on their trips back home or they go across the border on the weekends and bring it in. She said they all chew it but they just don't throw it on the ground or stick it under their bus seat. It's such a relief to know they're not going to catch you chewing and make you spit it out like your 3rd grade teacher and then haul you off to prison.
I decided to google "the truth about gum in Singapore" and this blog post came up. I laughed out loud. You have to go read it.
So, we're taking some gum, and we'll chew it in our home and dispose of our contraban before leaving the house. If we forget to spit it out, I guess we'll have to swallow it.
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