Singapore’s ban on the sale of chewing gum is possibly the most internationally well-known law in the world. When it first came to light in the early 1990s, it was one of the fundamental things that Western journalists focused on when writing about the city-state.
Something that is often overlooked is that this law is less strict than it once was. The chewing gum sales ban in Singapore has been in place since 1992. Since 2004, an exception has existed for therapeutic, dental, nicotine chewing gum, which can be bought from a doctor or registered pharmacist. It is not illegal to chew gum in Singapore, merely to import it and sell it, apart from the aforementioned exceptions.
In his memoirs, Lee Kuan Yew said that in 1983, when he was Prime Minister of Singapore, they brought a proposal for the ban to him by Teh Cheang Wan, then Minister for National Development. Chewing gum was causing maintenance problems in high-rise public-housing apartments, with vandals disposing of spent gum in mailboxes, inside keyholes, and on lift buttons.
Chewing gum left on the ground, stairways, and pavements in public areas increased the cost of cleaning and damaged cleaning equipment. Gum stuck on the seats of public buses was also considered a problem. However, Lee thought that a ban would be “too drastic”. After they announced the ban, they immediately halted the importation of chewing gum.
After a transition period allowing shops to clear existing stock, the sale of chewing gum was completely banned. When first introduced, the ban caused much controversy and some open defiance. Some people took the trouble of traveling to neighboring Johor Bahru, Malaysia, to purchase chewing gum.
Offenders were publicly “named and shamed” by the government, to serve as a deterrent to other would-be smugglers. No black market for chewing gum in Singapore ever emerged, though some Singaporeans occasionally still smuggle some chewing gum from Johor Bahru for their own consumption.
The ban has been partially lifted, as some types of gum are allowable, such as gum chewed for dental health. However, the government refuses to completely lift the ban because of the risk of gum littering again. In 1999, United States President Bill Clinton and Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong agreed to start talks between the two countries for a bilateral free trade agreement (USS-FTA).
The talks later continued under the new administration of President George W. Bush. By the last phase of negotiations in early 2003, there remained two unresolved issues: the War in Iraq and chewing gum. The chewing gum ban is just one of several laws to improve the cleanliness of the island which includes laws against littering, graffiti, and spitting.
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