🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 16 (from laksa007)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa016.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32090420\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32090420\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/magazine-32090420","crawl_time":1773783390,"first_indexed_time":1528135008,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,bbc!www,\/news\/magazine-32090420 s443","src_root_hash":"1643509356818581016","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Why Singapore banned chewing gum - BBC News","meta_descriptions":["Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday at the age of 91, personified the country's ban on sales of chewing gum - what was it about gum he so disliked?"],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Image source,\nThinkstock\nBy\nElle Metz\nBBC News Magazine\nLee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday at the age of 91, is famed as the man who turned Singapore from a small port into a global trading hub. But he also insisted on tidiness and good behaviour - and personified the country's ban on chewing gum. What was it about gum he so disliked?\nFor a while after the gum ban was introduced in 1992 it was all foreign journalists wanted to talk about, Lee Kuan Yew complained later, in conversation with US writer Tom Plate. That and caning, as a form of punishment.\nThe ban remains one of the best-known aspects of life in Singapore, along with the country's laws against litter, graffiti, jaywalking, spitting, expelling \"mucus from the nose\" and urinating anywhere but in a toilet. (If it's a public toilet, you are legally required to flush it.)\nWhen Singapore became independent in 1965 it was a tiny country with few resources, so Lee, the country's first prime minister, hatched a survival plan. This hinged on making the city state a \"first-world oasis in a third-world region\".\nBefore very long, Singapore was outstripping other developed countries in terms of its cleanliness, clipped lawns, and efficient transport system. The Cambridge-educated Lee, it seems, was aiming for perfection.\nImage source,\nReuters\n\"For many years as a visiting columnist, I too chewed over the puzzle of the chewing gum conundrum, but came to understand that the tendency to stick the remains of the gum in every which place was viewed by the authorities as a palpable attack on Singapore's ambition to be perfect,\" writes Plate, in his book Giants of Asia: Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew.\n\"That is, it was anti-utopian. It was gumming up the works. As far as LKY and his team were concerned, the yucky habit, commonplace in the old days, was a palpable enemy of progress. The way to edge forward toward utopia was simple: simply outlaw chewing gum.\"\nBy the time the gum ban was implemented, Lee had completed 31 years as prime minister, and had become \"senior minister\", a big power behind the scenes.\n\"We were called a nanny state,\"\nhe told the BBC's Peter Day in 2000\n, external\n. \"But the result is that we are today better behaved and we live in a more agreeable place than 30 years ago.\"\nAt that time, Lee was pushing for a \"new burst of creativity in business\" and Day \"hesitantly\" suggested that chewing gum stuck to the pavements might be a sign that the desired new spirit of creativity had arrived.\nLee grimaced.\n\"Putting chewing gum on our subway train doors so they don't open, I don't call that creativity. I call that mischief-making,\" Lee replied. \"If you can't think because you can't chew, try a banana.\"\nLee felt there was a public policy solution to everything, Plate says, even that gum on the pavement, or the doors of the \"mass rapid transit\" trains. \"He was what I call a pragmatic utopian,\" Plate says. \"He woke up in the morning and said, 'How can I make it better today?'\"\nImage source,\nAFP\nImage caption,\nGum used to hinder the working of the MRT doors\nGum is, anyway, \"largely legally chewable\" nowadays, Plate says.\nIt has always been legal to bring small amounts into the country for one's own use.\nSince 2004 - as a result of the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement - pharmacists and dentists have also been allowed to sell \"therapeutic\" gum, to customers with a medical prescription. This includes standard sugar-free gum.\nYou'd still face a steep fine for spitting out the chewed gum and leaving it as litter.\n\"We joke about these policies... we Singaporeans describe Singapore as a 'fine city' - a tongue-in-cheek reference to the many fines that can be imposed for various types of social misconduct,\" says Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University.\nAnd despite the change in the law in 2004, \"one would be hard-pressed to find people chewing gum in Singapore,\" Tan says.\nHe personally doesn't miss it.\n\"The footpaths look a lot nicer without the ugly gum marks,\" he says.\nImage source,\nAFP\nImage caption,\nGum on the pavement at Oxford Circus, London\nA Singaporean student studying in London, Pei-yi Yu, also sees advantages in going gum-free.\n\"I have often had the unpleasant experience of getting my body parts into contact with both fresh and stale chewing gum in lecture theatres and classrooms,\" across the UK, he says.\nIn Singapore \"we have a clean environment\" he adds - thanks to Lee.\nPlate, who has visited Singapore more than a dozen times, has never had any problem complying with the law, though he says his Berkeley-educated wife was tempted to walk on the grass.\nSingapore is \"excessively cleaned, overpriced and over-policed,\" he says - not that different from his own home town, Beverly Hills in California.\nSubscribe to the\nBBC News Magazine's email newsletter\nto get articles sent to your inbox.","attrs_markdown":"[BBC Homepage](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n\n- [Skip to content](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/magazine-32090420#main-heading)\n- [Accessibility Help](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/accessibility\/)\n\n- [Sign in](https:\/\/session.bbc.com\/session?lang=en-GB&ptrt=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fmagazine-32090420&sequenceId=f6091b06-a58d-479a-b69d-d3b23eb61abe)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/business)\n- [Innovation](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/innovation)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/travel)\n- [Earth](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future-planet)\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/video)\n- [Live](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/live)\n- [More menu](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/magazine-32090420#global-navigation-more-menu)\n\n[More menu](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/magazine-32090420#global-navigation-more-menu)\n\n[Search BBC](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/search?d=NEWS_PS)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/business)\n- [Innovation](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/innovation)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/travel)\n- [Earth](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future-planet)\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/video)\n- [Live](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/live)\n\nClose menu\n\n[BBC News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n\n[Menu](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/magazine-32090420#product-navigation-menu)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [UK](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk)\n- [World](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/entertainment_and_arts)\n- [Politics](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/politics)\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/health)\n- [Tech](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/technology)\n- [InDepth](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/bbcindepth)\n- [BBC Verify](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/bbcverify)\n- [Climate](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/cmj34zmwm1zt)\n\n[More](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/magazine-32090420#product-navigation-more-menu)\n\n- [Science](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science_and_environment)\n- [Family & Education](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/education)\n- [In Pictures](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/in_pictures)\n- [Disability](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/disability)\n- [Newsbeat](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/newsbeat)\n\n# Why Singapore banned chewing gum\nShare\n\nclose panel\n\nShare page\n\nCopy link\n\n[About sharing](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/usingthebbc\/terms\/can-i-share-things-from-the-bbc)\n\n![Stepping on gum](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/mcs\/media\/images\/81957000\/jpg\/_81957665_gum_think624.jpg)\n\nImage source, Thinkstock\n\nByElle Metz\n\nBBC News Magazine\n\n**Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday at the age of 91, is famed as the man who turned Singapore from a small port into a global trading hub. But he also insisted on tidiness and good behaviour - and personified the country's ban on chewing gum. What was it about gum he so disliked?**\n\nFor a while after the gum ban was introduced in 1992 it was all foreign journalists wanted to talk about, Lee Kuan Yew complained later, in conversation with US writer Tom Plate. That and caning, as a form of punishment.\n\nThe ban remains one of the best-known aspects of life in Singapore, along with the country's laws against litter, graffiti, jaywalking, spitting, expelling \"mucus from the nose\" and urinating anywhere but in a toilet. (If it's a public toilet, you are legally required to flush it.)\n\nWhen Singapore became independent in 1965 it was a tiny country with few resources, so Lee, the country's first prime minister, hatched a survival plan. This hinged on making the city state a \"first-world oasis in a third-world region\".\n\nBefore very long, Singapore was outstripping other developed countries in terms of its cleanliness, clipped lawns, and efficient transport system. The Cambridge-educated Lee, it seems, was aiming for perfection.\n\n![Man bowing before photograph of the late Lee Kuan Yew](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/mcs\/media\/images\/81957000\/jpg\/_81957238_leekuanyew_reuters624.jpg)\n\nImage source, Reuters\n\n\"For many years as a visiting columnist, I too chewed over the puzzle of the chewing gum conundrum, but came to understand that the tendency to stick the remains of the gum in every which place was viewed by the authorities as a palpable attack on Singapore's ambition to be perfect,\" writes Plate, in his book Giants of Asia: Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew.\n\n\"That is, it was anti-utopian. It was gumming up the works. As far as LKY and his team were concerned, the yucky habit, commonplace in the old days, was a palpable enemy of progress. The way to edge forward toward utopia was simple: simply outlaw chewing gum.\"\n\nBy the time the gum ban was implemented, Lee had completed 31 years as prime minister, and had become \"senior minister\", a big power behind the scenes.\n\n\"We were called a nanny state,\" [he told the BBC's Peter Day in 2000, external](http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/programmes\/from_our_own_correspondent\/820234.stm). \"But the result is that we are today better behaved and we live in a more agreeable place than 30 years ago.\"\n\nAt that time, Lee was pushing for a \"new burst of creativity in business\" and Day \"hesitantly\" suggested that chewing gum stuck to the pavements might be a sign that the desired new spirit of creativity had arrived.\n\nLee grimaced.\n\n\"Putting chewing gum on our subway train doors so they don't open, I don't call that creativity. I call that mischief-making,\" Lee replied. \"If you can't think because you can't chew, try a banana.\"\n\nLee felt there was a public policy solution to everything, Plate says, even that gum on the pavement, or the doors of the \"mass rapid transit\" trains. \"He was what I call a pragmatic utopian,\" Plate says. \"He woke up in the morning and said, 'How can I make it better today?'\"\n\n![Mass Rapid Transit in Singapore](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/mcs\/media\/images\/81957000\/jpg\/_81957239_mrt_afp624.jpg)\n\nImage source, AFP\n\nImage caption,\n\nGum used to hinder the working of the MRT doors\n\nGum is, anyway, \"largely legally chewable\" nowadays, Plate says.\n\nIt has always been legal to bring small amounts into the country for one's own use.\n\nSince 2004 - as a result of the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement - pharmacists and dentists have also been allowed to sell \"therapeutic\" gum, to customers with a medical prescription. This includes standard sugar-free gum.\n\nYou'd still face a steep fine for spitting out the chewed gum and leaving it as litter.\n\n\"We joke about these policies... we Singaporeans describe Singapore as a 'fine city' - a tongue-in-cheek reference to the many fines that can be imposed for various types of social misconduct,\" says Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University.\n\nAnd despite the change in the law in 2004, \"one would be hard-pressed to find people chewing gum in Singapore,\" Tan says.\n\nHe personally doesn't miss it.\n\n\"The footpaths look a lot nicer without the ugly gum marks,\" he says.\n\n![Gum on the pavement, Oxford Circus, London](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/mcs\/media\/images\/81957000\/jpg\/_81957664_oxfordcircus_afp624.jpg)\n\nImage source, AFP\n\nImage caption,\n\nGum on the pavement at Oxford Circus, London\n\nA Singaporean student studying in London, Pei-yi Yu, also sees advantages in going gum-free.\n\n\"I have often had the unpleasant experience of getting my body parts into contact with both fresh and stale chewing gum in lecture theatres and classrooms,\" across the UK, he says.\n\nIn Singapore \"we have a clean environment\" he adds - thanks to Lee.\n\nPlate, who has visited Singapore more than a dozen times, has never had any problem complying with the law, though he says his Berkeley-educated wife was tempted to walk on the grass.\n\nSingapore is \"excessively cleaned, overpriced and over-policed,\" he says - not that different from his own home town, Beverly Hills in California.\n\n*Subscribe to the* [BBC News Magazine's email newsletter](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/magazine-26567792) *to get articles sent to your inbox.*\n\n## Top stories\n- [Live. Emotional debate on Scotland’s assisted dying bill ahead of historic vote](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/live\/cx2grl77j47t)\n- [Live. Trump lashes out at Nato allies saying US 'no longer needs' help with Iran war](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/live\/cx2lr40g17kt)\n- [Top US counterterrorism official resigns over Iran war, urging Trump to 'reverse course'](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cg4g66r3z40o)\n\n## More to explore\n- [Was response to 'unprecedented' meningitis outbreak too slow?](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cjd9dk2v0z3o)\n  \n  ![People queue for antibiotics. ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/1907\/live\/c08d7140-2227-11f1-a903-99d6604c4b1e.png)\n- [Scammed out of £17k, one woman flew across UK to confront suspect](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c1kgx0xppzeo)\n  \n  ![Rhonda Montgomery has blonde hair stands to the left, looking into the distance at the right hand side of the camera. She is wearing a light pink top and matching 'Prada' framed glasses, which have a leopard print rim. Behind her is a wooded grassy area by some water, which is out of focus. ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/a059\/live\/f01c1550-1ecc-11f1-84c5-132fa5d854db.jpg)\n- ['Many people fooled' by AI wedding pics, says Zendaya](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/clyz7llp4k2o)\n  \n  ![An AI created image of Zendaya and Tom Holland getting married](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/9161\/live\/cd79ea20-2216-11f1-b297-95b0a0a8331e.jpg)\n- [Len Deighton obituary: How a cookery cartoonist became a master spy writer](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cervgrvekxzo)\n  \n  ![Len Deighton is seen staring into camera. He is leaning on the roof of a black London tax with his elbow and has his hand on his head.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/00e5\/live\/d185b9c0-7437-11ef-bc2c-0b6ef9bee4c0.jpg)\n- [Air strike hit Kabul rehab centre as patients ate dinner, survivor tells BBC](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/ckg1kgz6wkgo)\n  \n  ![A doctor takes notes at a hospital in Kabul, where three men sit in hospital beds. Two of them have bandages - one to a leg, and another to his arm. The bandaged leg of a fourth men can be seen in the side of the shot.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/2090\/live\/10ef2a40-2230-11f1-a79a-77e93010d956.jpg)\n- [My dad stabbed my mum to death - but then I had to move back in with him](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cvg3e70pnpeo)\n  \n  ![A selfie of Gemma. She has dark hair with a fringe, and wears a nose ring. It is a head and shoulders shot but the back of a pink sofa can be seen behind her with a green wall in the background. ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/c88b\/live\/dcbca130-2117-11f1-ac51-03f49875b3d3.jpg)\n- [Is it possible to build a plastic-free home?](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cy4wemk4dzvo)\n  \n  ![Wearing sunglasses and holding her black dog, Erica Cirino sits on the wooden steps of her home. ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/d622\/live\/5089a2a0-0e3c-11f1-9972-d3f265c101c6.jpg)\n- [Prince William joins Greg James on Comic Relief bike ride](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c3rzgg8wp52o)\n  \n  ![Prince William and Greg James ride on a tandem bike together against a backdrop of a green field and sunny sky, in Yorkshire on 17 March.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/7fd3\/live\/bedb94d0-2222-11f1-934f-036468834728.jpg)\n- [The Upbeat newsletter: Start your week on a high with uplifting stories delivered to your inbox](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/newsletters\/zyxfdnb)\n  \n  ![The logo for the Upbeat newsletter. 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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [Read about our approach to external linking.](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/editorialguidelines\/guidance\/feeds-and-links)","attrs_readable_markdown":"![Stepping on gum](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/mcs\/media\/images\/81957000\/jpg\/_81957665_gum_think624.jpg)Image source, Thinkstock\n\nByElle Metz\n\nBBC News Magazine\n\n**Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday at the age of 91, is famed as the man who turned Singapore from a small port into a global trading hub. But he also insisted on tidiness and good behaviour - and personified the country's ban on chewing gum. What was it about gum he so disliked?**\n\nFor a while after the gum ban was introduced in 1992 it was all foreign journalists wanted to talk about, Lee Kuan Yew complained later, in conversation with US writer Tom Plate. That and caning, as a form of punishment.\n\nThe ban remains one of the best-known aspects of life in Singapore, along with the country's laws against litter, graffiti, jaywalking, spitting, expelling \"mucus from the nose\" and urinating anywhere but in a toilet. (If it's a public toilet, you are legally required to flush it.)\n\nWhen Singapore became independent in 1965 it was a tiny country with few resources, so Lee, the country's first prime minister, hatched a survival plan. This hinged on making the city state a \"first-world oasis in a third-world region\".\n\nBefore very long, Singapore was outstripping other developed countries in terms of its cleanliness, clipped lawns, and efficient transport system. The Cambridge-educated Lee, it seems, was aiming for perfection.\n\n![Man bowing before photograph of the late Lee Kuan Yew](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/mcs\/media\/images\/81957000\/jpg\/_81957238_leekuanyew_reuters624.jpg)Image source, Reuters\n\n\"For many years as a visiting columnist, I too chewed over the puzzle of the chewing gum conundrum, but came to understand that the tendency to stick the remains of the gum in every which place was viewed by the authorities as a palpable attack on Singapore's ambition to be perfect,\" writes Plate, in his book Giants of Asia: Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew.\n\n\"That is, it was anti-utopian. It was gumming up the works. As far as LKY and his team were concerned, the yucky habit, commonplace in the old days, was a palpable enemy of progress. The way to edge forward toward utopia was simple: simply outlaw chewing gum.\"\n\nBy the time the gum ban was implemented, Lee had completed 31 years as prime minister, and had become \"senior minister\", a big power behind the scenes.\n\n\"We were called a nanny state,\" [he told the BBC's Peter Day in 2000, external](http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/programmes\/from_our_own_correspondent\/820234.stm). \"But the result is that we are today better behaved and we live in a more agreeable place than 30 years ago.\"\n\nAt that time, Lee was pushing for a \"new burst of creativity in business\" and Day \"hesitantly\" suggested that chewing gum stuck to the pavements might be a sign that the desired new spirit of creativity had arrived.\n\nLee grimaced.\n\n\"Putting chewing gum on our subway train doors so they don't open, I don't call that creativity. I call that mischief-making,\" Lee replied. \"If you can't think because you can't chew, try a banana.\"\n\nLee felt there was a public policy solution to everything, Plate says, even that gum on the pavement, or the doors of the \"mass rapid transit\" trains. \"He was what I call a pragmatic utopian,\" Plate says. \"He woke up in the morning and said, 'How can I make it better today?'\"\n\n![Mass Rapid Transit in Singapore](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/mcs\/media\/images\/81957000\/jpg\/_81957239_mrt_afp624.jpg)Image source, AFP\n\nImage caption,\n\nGum used to hinder the working of the MRT doors\n\nGum is, anyway, \"largely legally chewable\" nowadays, Plate says.\n\nIt has always been legal to bring small amounts into the country for one's own use.\n\nSince 2004 - as a result of the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement - pharmacists and dentists have also been allowed to sell \"therapeutic\" gum, to customers with a medical prescription. This includes standard sugar-free gum.\n\nYou'd still face a steep fine for spitting out the chewed gum and leaving it as litter.\n\n\"We joke about these policies... we Singaporeans describe Singapore as a 'fine city' - a tongue-in-cheek reference to the many fines that can be imposed for various types of social misconduct,\" says Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University.\n\nAnd despite the change in the law in 2004, \"one would be hard-pressed to find people chewing gum in Singapore,\" Tan says.\n\nHe personally doesn't miss it.\n\n\"The footpaths look a lot nicer without the ugly gum marks,\" he says.\n\n![Gum on the pavement, Oxford Circus, London](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/mcs\/media\/images\/81957000\/jpg\/_81957664_oxfordcircus_afp624.jpg)Image source, AFP\n\nImage caption,\n\nGum on the pavement at Oxford Circus, London\n\nA Singaporean student studying in London, Pei-yi Yu, also sees advantages in going gum-free.\n\n\"I have often had the unpleasant experience of getting my body parts into contact with both fresh and stale chewing gum in lecture theatres and classrooms,\" across the UK, he says.\n\nIn Singapore \"we have a clean environment\" he adds - thanks to Lee.\n\nPlate, who has visited Singapore more than a dozen times, has never had any problem complying with the law, though he says his Berkeley-educated wife was tempted to walk on the grass.\n\nSingapore is \"excessively cleaned, overpriced and over-policed,\" he says - not that different from his own home town, Beverly Hills in California.\n\n*Subscribe to the* [BBC News Magazine's email newsletter](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/magazine-26567792) *to get articles sent to your inbox.*","meta_canonical":null}

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Boilerpipe Text	Image source, Thinkstock By Elle Metz BBC News Magazine Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday at the age of 91, is famed as the man who turned Singapore from a small port into a global trading hub. But he also insisted on tidiness and good behaviour - and personified the country's ban on chewing gum. What was it about gum he so disliked? For a while after the gum ban was introduced in 1992 it was all foreign journalists wanted to talk about, Lee Kuan Yew complained later, in conversation with US writer Tom Plate. That and caning, as a form of punishment. The ban remains one of the best-known aspects of life in Singapore, along with the country's laws against litter, graffiti, jaywalking, spitting, expelling "mucus from the nose" and urinating anywhere but in a toilet. (If it's a public toilet, you are legally required to flush it.) When Singapore became independent in 1965 it was a tiny country with few resources, so Lee, the country's first prime minister, hatched a survival plan. This hinged on making the city state a "first-world oasis in a third-world region". Before very long, Singapore was outstripping other developed countries in terms of its cleanliness, clipped lawns, and efficient transport system. The Cambridge-educated Lee, it seems, was aiming for perfection. Image source, Reuters "For many years as a visiting columnist, I too chewed over the puzzle of the chewing gum conundrum, but came to understand that the tendency to stick the remains of the gum in every which place was viewed by the authorities as a palpable attack on Singapore's ambition to be perfect," writes Plate, in his book Giants of Asia: Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew. "That is, it was anti-utopian. It was gumming up the works. As far as LKY and his team were concerned, the yucky habit, commonplace in the old days, was a palpable enemy of progress. The way to edge forward toward utopia was simple: simply outlaw chewing gum." By the time the gum ban was implemented, Lee had completed 31 years as prime minister, and had become "senior minister", a big power behind the scenes. "We were called a nanny state," he told the BBC's Peter Day in 2000 , external . "But the result is that we are today better behaved and we live in a more agreeable place than 30 years ago." At that time, Lee was pushing for a "new burst of creativity in business" and Day "hesitantly" suggested that chewing gum stuck to the pavements might be a sign that the desired new spirit of creativity had arrived. Lee grimaced. "Putting chewing gum on our subway train doors so they don't open, I don't call that creativity. I call that mischief-making," Lee replied. "If you can't think because you can't chew, try a banana." Lee felt there was a public policy solution to everything, Plate says, even that gum on the pavement, or the doors of the "mass rapid transit" trains. "He was what I call a pragmatic utopian," Plate says. "He woke up in the morning and said, 'How can I make it better today?'" Image source, AFP Image caption, Gum used to hinder the working of the MRT doors Gum is, anyway, "largely legally chewable" nowadays, Plate says. It has always been legal to bring small amounts into the country for one's own use. Since 2004 - as a result of the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement - pharmacists and dentists have also been allowed to sell "therapeutic" gum, to customers with a medical prescription. This includes standard sugar-free gum. You'd still face a steep fine for spitting out the chewed gum and leaving it as litter. "We joke about these policies... we Singaporeans describe Singapore as a 'fine city' - a tongue-in-cheek reference to the many fines that can be imposed for various types of social misconduct," says Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University. And despite the change in the law in 2004, "one would be hard-pressed to find people chewing gum in Singapore," Tan says. He personally doesn't miss it. "The footpaths look a lot nicer without the ugly gum marks," he says. Image source, AFP Image caption, Gum on the pavement at Oxford Circus, London A Singaporean student studying in London, Pei-yi Yu, also sees advantages in going gum-free. "I have often had the unpleasant experience of getting my body parts into contact with both fresh and stale chewing gum in lecture theatres and classrooms," across the UK, he says. In Singapore "we have a clean environment" he adds - thanks to Lee. Plate, who has visited Singapore more than a dozen times, has never had any problem complying with the law, though he says his Berkeley-educated wife was tempted to walk on the grass. Singapore is "excessively cleaned, overpriced and over-policed," he says - not that different from his own home town, Beverly Hills in California. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.
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But he also insisted on tidiness and good behaviour - and personified the country's ban on chewing gum. What was it about gum he so disliked? For a while after the gum ban was introduced in 1992 it was all foreign journalists wanted to talk about, Lee Kuan Yew complained later, in conversation with US writer Tom Plate. That and caning, as a form of punishment. The ban remains one of the best-known aspects of life in Singapore, along with the country's laws against litter, graffiti, jaywalking, spitting, expelling "mucus from the nose" and urinating anywhere but in a toilet. (If it's a public toilet, you are legally required to flush it.) When Singapore became independent in 1965 it was a tiny country with few resources, so Lee, the country's first prime minister, hatched a survival plan. This hinged on making the city state a "first-world oasis in a third-world region". Before very long, Singapore was outstripping other developed countries in terms of its cleanliness, clipped lawns, and efficient transport system. The Cambridge-educated Lee, it seems, was aiming for perfection. ![Man bowing before photograph of the late Lee Kuan Yew](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/624/mcs/media/images/81957000/jpg/_81957238_leekuanyew_reuters624.jpg) Image source, Reuters "For many years as a visiting columnist, I too chewed over the puzzle of the chewing gum conundrum, but came to understand that the tendency to stick the remains of the gum in every which place was viewed by the authorities as a palpable attack on Singapore's ambition to be perfect," writes Plate, in his book Giants of Asia: Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew. "That is, it was anti-utopian. It was gumming up the works. As far as LKY and his team were concerned, the yucky habit, commonplace in the old days, was a palpable enemy of progress. The way to edge forward toward utopia was simple: simply outlaw chewing gum." By the time the gum ban was implemented, Lee had completed 31 years as prime minister, and had become "senior minister", a big power behind the scenes. "We were called a nanny state," [he told the BBC's Peter Day in 2000, external](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/820234.stm). "But the result is that we are today better behaved and we live in a more agreeable place than 30 years ago." At that time, Lee was pushing for a "new burst of creativity in business" and Day "hesitantly" suggested that chewing gum stuck to the pavements might be a sign that the desired new spirit of creativity had arrived. Lee grimaced. "Putting chewing gum on our subway train doors so they don't open, I don't call that creativity. I call that mischief-making," Lee replied. "If you can't think because you can't chew, try a banana." Lee felt there was a public policy solution to everything, Plate says, even that gum on the pavement, or the doors of the "mass rapid transit" trains. "He was what I call a pragmatic utopian," Plate says. "He woke up in the morning and said, 'How can I make it better today?'" ![Mass Rapid Transit in Singapore](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/624/mcs/media/images/81957000/jpg/_81957239_mrt_afp624.jpg) Image source, AFP Image caption, Gum used to hinder the working of the MRT doors Gum is, anyway, "largely legally chewable" nowadays, Plate says. It has always been legal to bring small amounts into the country for one's own use. Since 2004 - as a result of the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement - pharmacists and dentists have also been allowed to sell "therapeutic" gum, to customers with a medical prescription. This includes standard sugar-free gum. You'd still face a steep fine for spitting out the chewed gum and leaving it as litter. "We joke about these policies... we Singaporeans describe Singapore as a 'fine city' - a tongue-in-cheek reference to the many fines that can be imposed for various types of social misconduct," says Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University. And despite the change in the law in 2004, "one would be hard-pressed to find people chewing gum in Singapore," Tan says. He personally doesn't miss it. "The footpaths look a lot nicer without the ugly gum marks," he says. ![Gum on the pavement, Oxford Circus, London](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/624/mcs/media/images/81957000/jpg/_81957664_oxfordcircus_afp624.jpg) Image source, AFP Image caption, Gum on the pavement at Oxford Circus, London A Singaporean student studying in London, Pei-yi Yu, also sees advantages in going gum-free. "I have often had the unpleasant experience of getting my body parts into contact with both fresh and stale chewing gum in lecture theatres and classrooms," across the UK, he says. In Singapore "we have a clean environment" he adds - thanks to Lee. Plate, who has visited Singapore more than a dozen times, has never had any problem complying with the law, though he says his Berkeley-educated wife was tempted to walk on the grass. Singapore is "excessively cleaned, overpriced and over-policed," he says - not that different from his own home town, Beverly Hills in California. Subscribe to the [BBC News Magazine's email newsletter](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26567792) to get articles sent to your inbox. ## Top stories - [Live. Emotional debate on Scotland’s assisted dying bill ahead of historic vote](https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cx2grl77j47t) - [Live. 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Readable Markdown	![Stepping on gum](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/624/mcs/media/images/81957000/jpg/_81957665_gum_think624.jpg)Image source, Thinkstock ByElle Metz BBC News Magazine Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday at the age of 91, is famed as the man who turned Singapore from a small port into a global trading hub. But he also insisted on tidiness and good behaviour - and personified the country's ban on chewing gum. What was it about gum he so disliked? For a while after the gum ban was introduced in 1992 it was all foreign journalists wanted to talk about, Lee Kuan Yew complained later, in conversation with US writer Tom Plate. That and caning, as a form of punishment. The ban remains one of the best-known aspects of life in Singapore, along with the country's laws against litter, graffiti, jaywalking, spitting, expelling "mucus from the nose" and urinating anywhere but in a toilet. (If it's a public toilet, you are legally required to flush it.) When Singapore became independent in 1965 it was a tiny country with few resources, so Lee, the country's first prime minister, hatched a survival plan. This hinged on making the city state a "first-world oasis in a third-world region". Before very long, Singapore was outstripping other developed countries in terms of its cleanliness, clipped lawns, and efficient transport system. The Cambridge-educated Lee, it seems, was aiming for perfection. ![Man bowing before photograph of the late Lee Kuan Yew](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/624/mcs/media/images/81957000/jpg/_81957238_leekuanyew_reuters624.jpg)Image source, Reuters "For many years as a visiting columnist, I too chewed over the puzzle of the chewing gum conundrum, but came to understand that the tendency to stick the remains of the gum in every which place was viewed by the authorities as a palpable attack on Singapore's ambition to be perfect," writes Plate, in his book Giants of Asia: Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew. "That is, it was anti-utopian. It was gumming up the works. As far as LKY and his team were concerned, the yucky habit, commonplace in the old days, was a palpable enemy of progress. The way to edge forward toward utopia was simple: simply outlaw chewing gum." By the time the gum ban was implemented, Lee had completed 31 years as prime minister, and had become "senior minister", a big power behind the scenes. "We were called a nanny state," [he told the BBC's Peter Day in 2000, external](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/820234.stm). "But the result is that we are today better behaved and we live in a more agreeable place than 30 years ago." At that time, Lee was pushing for a "new burst of creativity in business" and Day "hesitantly" suggested that chewing gum stuck to the pavements might be a sign that the desired new spirit of creativity had arrived. Lee grimaced. "Putting chewing gum on our subway train doors so they don't open, I don't call that creativity. I call that mischief-making," Lee replied. "If you can't think because you can't chew, try a banana." Lee felt there was a public policy solution to everything, Plate says, even that gum on the pavement, or the doors of the "mass rapid transit" trains. "He was what I call a pragmatic utopian," Plate says. "He woke up in the morning and said, 'How can I make it better today?'" ![Mass Rapid Transit in Singapore](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/624/mcs/media/images/81957000/jpg/_81957239_mrt_afp624.jpg)Image source, AFP Image caption, Gum used to hinder the working of the MRT doors Gum is, anyway, "largely legally chewable" nowadays, Plate says. It has always been legal to bring small amounts into the country for one's own use. Since 2004 - as a result of the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement - pharmacists and dentists have also been allowed to sell "therapeutic" gum, to customers with a medical prescription. This includes standard sugar-free gum. You'd still face a steep fine for spitting out the chewed gum and leaving it as litter. "We joke about these policies... we Singaporeans describe Singapore as a 'fine city' - a tongue-in-cheek reference to the many fines that can be imposed for various types of social misconduct," says Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University. And despite the change in the law in 2004, "one would be hard-pressed to find people chewing gum in Singapore," Tan says. He personally doesn't miss it. "The footpaths look a lot nicer without the ugly gum marks," he says. ![Gum on the pavement, Oxford Circus, London](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/624/mcs/media/images/81957000/jpg/_81957664_oxfordcircus_afp624.jpg)Image source, AFP Image caption, Gum on the pavement at Oxford Circus, London A Singaporean student studying in London, Pei-yi Yu, also sees advantages in going gum-free. "I have often had the unpleasant experience of getting my body parts into contact with both fresh and stale chewing gum in lecture theatres and classrooms," across the UK, he says. In Singapore "we have a clean environment" he adds - thanks to Lee. Plate, who has visited Singapore more than a dozen times, has never had any problem complying with the law, though he says his Berkeley-educated wife was tempted to walk on the grass. Singapore is "excessively cleaned, overpriced and over-policed," he says - not that different from his own home town, Beverly Hills in California. 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