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No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30pm?

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uscate
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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by uscate » Sat, 31 Jan 2015 11:00 pm

[/quote]It occurred to me the other day, as I watched an expat woman drunkenly negotiate a crossing, that the prevalence of expats with serious drinking problems is high here. The ones I have known or observed are generally women.

I’m assuming this is not just Singapore but would be applicable to other expat locations? Bored trailing spouses?[/quote]

I know I'm kind of late to this party, but as a former expat trailing spouse, I can totally agree with bgd's statement. When I first arrived, I joined a few "women's groups" essentially to make some connections when I realized I wouldn't be able to get a job. From my experience, especially the newer (and younger) expat wives were prone to using their new found freedom from working to have a few ++ glasses of wine with lunch, or celebrate a Wednesday afternoon with cocktails. I certainly do enjoy my vino, but being "day drunk" on a consistent basis wasn't my liver's idea of a great way to spend my time….So I ended up being one of those expats you see reading in the Botanic Gardens or wandering around with her camera….

In retrospect, it's kind of sad that otherwise productive women end up frittering their time away….

God this sounds judge-y, but whatever….I'll be looking forward to seeing how these rules actually impact Sing society as a whole.

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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by ecureilx » Sat, 31 Jan 2015 11:29 pm

zzm9980 wrote:
AngMoG wrote:J
Of course the usual anti-foreigner comments:
The Problem creater is still at large and the Ants gets the brush. Giving Authorised Liquor/Tobbaco Licenses to Foreigners was the very 1st mistake.
How can foreigners own a shop and have a liquor license? Or do they mean PRs?
Some smart folks can always find a foreign connection even in trivial matters

Example .. a Sherlock accusing the govt of favoring foreigners saying foreign workers are pampered and get to drive cleaning buggies where local cleaners have to make do with broom sticks

Don't ask the logic there...

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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by JR8 » Sat, 31 Jan 2015 11:37 pm

If this is such a successful country.... then why is everyone so apparently bloody angry about everything?
'Do it or do not do it: You will regret both' - Kierkegaard

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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by ecureilx » Sun, 01 Feb 2015 12:24 am

JR8 wrote:If this is such a successful country.... then why is everyone so apparently bloody angry about everything?
Ouch ..

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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by PNGMK » Sun, 01 Feb 2015 7:40 pm

I honestly don't see it as major issue. Let's face it - LKY got rid of the wild side of Singapore a long time ago (and then had the adaucity to mention 'al fresco eating and dining' something like 5 times in a speech probably not realising that the Italian style of eating was a reflection of well, Italy and it's freedoms).
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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by JR8 » Mon, 02 Feb 2015 11:34 am

PNGMK wrote:I honestly don't see it as major issue. Let's face it - LKY got rid of the wild side of Singapore a long time ago (and then had the adaucity to mention 'al fresco eating and dining' something like 5 times in a speech probably not realising that the Italian style of eating was a reflection of well, Italy and it's freedoms).
I don't think prohibition works efficiently at all; just look at the consequences of the US prohibition of alcohol > the rise of the mafia etc.

There are still many ingredients of SGs 'wild side', just they're invisible, or rather less visible than if they were parading in 6" platform heels and a micro-dress up and down Bugis street :) But I think we all know places where such things (and a more regular flavour thereof) could readily be found. Plus just flick through the Yellow Pages and the ads are there for all to see. In fact AFAIR SG has legalized prostitution zones.

The handling of say drugs is another thing altogether. This place is small enough that such things can be reined in by the state, and they are fortunate in that. Tolerance to the extent of providing state funded rehabilitation to say Class-A drug users is a burden upon countries who simply can't completely eradicate their use. I'm not up for a discussion re: various categories of drugs etc, but I will note that there are people I know (adults, locals) who seem to have a highly glamorised/romantisised view on smoking weed. They might have never tried it, but they seem to believe that they'd like to. That is curious as in the 'depraved west' anyone who dabbles in that also often closes the chapter on it when still a teenager. It isn't a thing some random adult is going to start doing past university/college, yet here prohibition seems to have given it apparently wide cachet. Rather ironic.


I hadn't heard the dream of building a Sienna-pore :) Last time it was all about creating the 'Switzerland of Asia'. Well I don't know, I don't think you can micro-manage the ways and wishes of a population to such an extent. A leopard doesn't change his spots as they say. You can begin with the younger generation and that seems to have an effect. As I observed here previously school-children do seem more considerate and courteous than they would ever have been, say back 20yrs ago. Or maybe it's an age thing and nowadays when they hold open a door for me, it's because they're being 'kind to the uncle' :lol:

Has any country intentionally been culturally transformed into the mirror-image of another? I doubt it, and I doubt it's possible.You might go some way to re-programme the indigents, but since they're not breeding, you have to import FT, who (holding nose) come in with their uncivil ways. So maybe that puts you back to square one again...

Perhaps it's akin to teenage growing pains, acted out on a nationwide scale. 'Last year it was the done thing to all act a bit gay, but this year it's time to move on to rock music and wearing black. Someway later on down the track via 'subversive' progressive rock and then experimental jazz, the sunlit cultural uplands of a short, back and sides, a smart suit and tie, and classical music might eventually be reached.

'Rome wasn't built in a day', neither was any supposed utopia.

- In terms of al fresco dining, the Malays seem to do this pretty well [irony]. But here in SG if you eat outside it's likely fronting a highway or similar. There aren't a lot of village/town squares here. Plus little Junior probably has 4hrs of homework and a 6am start. Quite a contrast to swathes of Europe where for starters they expect to be taking most of July and all of August as holiday. It's not even considered a parallel to taking annual vacation, it's more like whole parts of the continent almost completely shut down. I really can't see them aspiring to that here... so beyond an idealised superficially attractive whim what is there?
'Do it or do not do it: You will regret both' - Kierkegaard

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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by nakatago » Mon, 02 Feb 2015 11:44 am

JR8 wrote: Plus just flick through the Yellow Pages and the ads are there for all to see.
I was curious and did a quick Google search.

Found this little gem:
Q: Are yours a legitimate service?
A: Our service is licensed and registered in Singapore with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).
It also has a business address and phone number in the open. Also appears as the business they claim to be (albeit slightly different name) on Google Maps.

Now, I'm even more curious to see those business registration papers.
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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by JR8 » Mon, 02 Feb 2015 11:56 am

Look through a hard-copy of the directory and I expect any doubts as to what is on offer, via all the 'exotic' pictures, will be taken away.
'Do it or do not do it: You will regret both' - Kierkegaard

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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by nakatago » Mon, 02 Feb 2015 12:12 pm

JR8 wrote:Look through a hard-copy of the directory and I expect any doubts as to what is on offer, via all the 'exotic' pictures, will be taken away.
It's already pretty clear what this company offers on their listing and even more so on their website. They're very matter-of-fact about it.
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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by x9200 » Tue, 03 Feb 2015 7:29 am

JR8 wrote:I don't think prohibition works efficiently at all; just look at the consequences of the US prohibition of alcohol > the rise of the mafia etc.
It was a total prohibition, wasn't it? IMHO it's a completely different scenario. For what they are going to achieve in Singapore I think there is a good chance to work as intended. For everybody outside the target group it is going to be just a minor inconvenience if any at all.

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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Tue, 03 Feb 2015 8:51 am

x9200 wrote:
JR8 wrote:I don't think prohibition works efficiently at all; just look at the consequences of the US prohibition of alcohol > the rise of the mafia etc.
It was a total prohibition, wasn't it? IMHO it's a completely different scenario. For what they are going to achieve in Singapore I think there is a good chance to work as intended. For everybody outside the target group it is going to be just a minor inconvenience if any at all.
Liquor laws in Maryland (my home state) are just as bad and in a lot of other southern states in the US are even worse. I reckon if one were to take an overview, the only real people it's going to affect is the under 30 crowd looking for cheap drunks before hitting the clubs and the BBQ/Beach crowd. The FW's, well, I have a mixed feeling about it. I think it sucks to be treated as sub-human and have shutdown policies directed directly at them, but by doing the Geylang bit, it takes in the PRC AND the local Chinese as well. I don't think having alcohol restricted zones is a good idea, nor do I think the no drinking in public is a good idea as that pretty much screws up void deck weddings royally (if Chinese or Indian). But all in all, after putting up with Friday & Saturday night drinking binges in the void deck below my flat and my alcoholic BiL, you could say, I am leaning toward it heavily. We can still drink in clubs all night but just cannot continue till daybreak after doing a 7-11 run and sitting on the steps of Boat Quay at 3:30 am in the morning.
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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by CaptainBullus » Tue, 03 Feb 2015 9:07 am

JR8 wrote:Does a similar law apply anywhere else in the world, or is SG going to be a pioneer of this 'moral sobriety'?
Most cities in the UK have areas where you can't have open alcohol containers at anytime of the day or night. Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds to name a few. Also, you can no longer consume or buy alcohol on trains after 9pm and thanks to the oil workers you can no longer drink on ANY train from Aberdeen heading South!

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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by x9200 » Tue, 03 Feb 2015 10:27 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote:
x9200 wrote:
JR8 wrote:I don't think prohibition works efficiently at all; just look at the consequences of the US prohibition of alcohol > the rise of the mafia etc.
It was a total prohibition, wasn't it? IMHO it's a completely different scenario. For what they are going to achieve in Singapore I think there is a good chance to work as intended. For everybody outside the target group it is going to be just a minor inconvenience if any at all.
Liquor laws in Maryland (my home state) are just as bad and in a lot of other southern states in the US are even worse. I reckon if one were to take an overview, the only real people it's going to affect is the under 30 crowd looking for cheap drunks before hitting the clubs and the BBQ/Beach crowd. The FW's, well, I have a mixed feeling about it. I think it sucks to be treated as sub-human and have shutdown policies directed directly at them, but by doing the Geylang bit, it takes in the PRC AND the local Chinese as well. I don't think having alcohol restricted zones is a good idea, nor do I think the no drinking in public is a good idea as that pretty much screws up void deck weddings royally (if Chinese or Indian). But all in all, after putting up with Friday & Saturday night drinking binges in the void deck below my flat and my alcoholic BiL, you could say, I am leaning toward it heavily. We can still drink in clubs all night but just cannot continue till daybreak after doing a 7-11 run and sitting on the steps of Boat Quay at 3:30 am in the morning.
I believe it should be possible to get a permit for weddings and such.

BTW, in Poland is much more strict and most of the cities got the local liquor law banning any alcohol drinking in any public places at any time. Personally I think it's ok and serves the purpose - the national drinking style is not exactly public-friendly.

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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by earthfriendly » Thu, 05 Feb 2015 1:10 am

JR8 wrote:If this is such a successful country.... then why is everyone so apparently bloody angry about everything?

https://www.facebook.com/smrtsg/posts/926964310661115

"Our gahmen see this island as a corporation, not country. They only care about business & $$$. They don't care if we extinct coz they can always replace us with foreigners. Which they are already doing now. To them, we are not citizens, just employees of the nation." ~Jae Rossi Sadalli

Many Singaporeans share this sentiments. Justifiable or not, you be the judge.

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Re: No more public drinking and retail of alcohol post 10.30

Post by PNGMK » Thu, 05 Feb 2015 8:56 am

earthfriendly wrote:
JR8 wrote:If this is such a successful country.... then why is everyone so apparently bloody angry about everything?

https://www.facebook.com/smrtsg/posts/926964310661115

"Our gahmen see this island as a corporation, not country. They only care about business & $$$. They don't care if we extinct coz they can always replace us with foreigners. Which they are already doing now. To them, we are not citizens, just employees of the nation." ~Jae Rossi Sadalli

Many Singaporeans share this sentiments. Justifiable or not, you be the judge.
It's a little cynical, I think there are people in the government and civil service who do care for their citizens but I think there is also a very strong top-down mentality - i.e. we will decide for you.
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