Singapore is one of my favorite places on earth to visit. If it wasn't for the Switzerland sized cost of living it would be perfect, the food is some of the best in Asia and it really has a wonderful blend of the best of Asian and British culture, I seriously considered doing a church plant there in late 90s.
Admittedly, the laws, like those of Malaysia and China (the two main ethnic communities on the Island) are strict. Westerners who are used to lax laws tend to find them to be a bit much, but everyone generally admits that things like Violent Crime, Litering and the like are virtually non-existent on the Island. Also, while the punishments tend to be harsh, I found few examples where real rights were restricted or eliminated. Generally, if you aren't actually involved in crime and you can afford to live there, you aren't going to have many problems in Singapore.
In the case of Nguyen Tuong Van, he was admittedly smuggling several hundred thousand dollars worth of heroin for dealers, and as someone has already pointed out, that would probably have worked out to several ODs and quite a few ruined lives.
Having known guys who did similar stupid things (I roomed with a guy in University who had made cash to travel the world by smuggling gold and drugs between Myanmar and Hong Kong) I've found that smugglers generally realize that the penalty for their actions in most SE Asian countries is going to be death or a long time rotting in jail, but choose to go for the money anway.
- SEAGOON
