# Large Cities without Graffiti? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505 "2016-04-07T23:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/1 "2016-04-07T23:09:18Z")
I don’t remember seeing graffiti in Kathmandu. I also don’t recall seeing it in China or India. Anyone else been to cities that didn’t have graffiti? Is it primarily a scourge of Western cities? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/2 "2016-04-07T23:38:14Z")
Singapore is the first one that comes to mind. You can get a rather large fine for even having gum, let alone spitting it out on the street and it is actually enforced with importation bans. An American teen, Michael Fay, was prominent in the national news in 1994 because he was sentenced to caning (more painful and harsher than it sounds) for committing vandalism while he lived in Singapore with his parents. Singapore reduced the number of lashes from 4 to 6 but still ultimately went through with it. Needless to say, they do not have a problem with simple littering in Singapore let alone graffiti. Singapore is a nice 1st world city/country but they really, really hate anyone messing up their stuff in any way. > **[Vandalism Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandalism_Act)** > > The Vandalism Act 1966 is a statute of the Parliament of Singapore that criminalizes a number of different acts done in relation to public and private property, namely, stealing, destroying or damaging public property; and, without the property owner's written consent, writing, drawing, painting, marking or inscribing on property; affixing posters, placards, etc., to the property; and suspending or displaying on or from the property any flag, banner, etc. > In addition to a fine or jail term, ... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/3 "2016-04-07T23:41:44Z")
Reduced from 4 to 6? I thought they were supposed to be better than us at math. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/4 "2016-04-07T23:45:23Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Singapore is the first one that comes to mind. You can get a rather large fine for even having gum, let alone spitting it out on the street and it is actually enforced with importation bans.] No you can’t. It is perfectly legal to chew gum in Singapore, or to import quantities for personal use. It is illegal to sell it in open commerce, or to import marketable quantities. As I understand it, the reason it was banned dates back to the public transit system introducing fare-paying devices that could be jammed with gum. Unable to enforce that vandalism, gum was banned instead. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/5 "2016-04-07T23:45:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Reduced from 4 to 6? I thought they were supposed to be better than us at math. Sorry, flip that around. I am sure the 4 were bad enough anyway. Their caning technique is similar to slave lashing in the past so you probably want to leave your spraypaint at home on your vacation there. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/6 "2016-04-07T23:53:57Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > No you can’t. It is perfectly legal to chew gum in Singapore, or to import quantities for personal use. It is illegal to sell it in open commerce, or to import marketable quantities. This is getting a little off topic but I disagree. It is possible to get legal personal chewing gum but it has to have theuaputic value such as nicotine gum for stopping smoking or gum for some dental issues. Admittedly, I have never been to Singapore but everyone I know that has been there said the airlines passed on the warning about it before they even landed. Wikipedia even has an article on it with cites. It certainly doesn’t say that it is “perfectly legal”. It does say that some people are allowed to have it for therapeutic reasons but it has to be prescribed by a doctor. \*"There is a ban on importing chewing gum into Singapore which is strictly enforced. Since 2004, only chewing gum of therapeutic value is allowed into Singapore under the “Regulation of Imports and Exports (Chewing Gum) Regulations.” The exception is made for dental or nicotine gum.[1] Gum can be bought from a doctor, but must be prescribed. **According to the Regulations, “importing” means to “bring or cause to be brought into Singapore by land, water or air from any place which is outside Singapore …” any goods, even if they are not for purposes of trade."** \* > **[Chewing gum sales ban in Singapore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_ban_in_Singapore)** > > The sale of chewing gum in Singapore has been illegal since 1992. Some motivations for the ban included stopping the placement of used chewing gum in inappropriate and costly places, such as the sensors of subway doors, inside lock cylinders, and on elevator buttons. Since 2004, an exception has existed for therapeutic, dental, and nicotine chewing gum, which can be bought from a doctor or registered pharmacist. It is not illegal to chew gum in Singapore, but it is against the law to import it... You may live in Singapore for all I know and know something that I don’t but the chewing gum ban is both real and enforced in general according to every source that I know of. The harsh penalties for vandalism of any type are famously real as well. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/7 "2016-04-08T01:55:10Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Singapore is the first one that comes to mind. You can get a rather large fine for even having gum, let alone spitting it out on the street and it is actually enforced with importation bans. An American teen, Michael Fay, was prominent in the national news in 1994 because he was sentenced to caning (more painful and harsher than it sounds) for committing vandalism while he lived in Singapore with his parents. Singapore reduced the number of lashes from 4 to 6 but still ultimately went through with it. Needless to say, they do not have a problem with simple littering in Singapore let alone graffiti. When a country has draconian laws against something, that doesn’t indicate that they don’t have a problem with the something. If they didn’t have a problem with it, they wouldn’t need the draconian laws. And the draconian laws are not necessarily effective. Singapore does have clean streets, but this is mainly because they spend a lot of time and money cleaning them. Look at the incredible amounts of detritus that can be seen floating along the city waterways, and you’ll realise that Singaporeans discard their coffee cups and empty bottles and sweet rappers and cigarette packets just as carelessly as the rest of the world. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/8 "2016-04-08T02:51:11Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > . . . sweet rappers . . . So even their musicians are nicer over there? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/9 "2016-04-08T03:37:42Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > sweet rappers Yeah, you’ll find Wonder Mike just floating by, assuring you that what you see is not a test, he’s floatin’ by the street. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/10 "2016-04-08T12:04:56Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > I don’t remember seeing graffiti in Kathmandu. I also don’t recall seeing it in China or India. > > Anyone else been to cities that didn’t have graffiti? Is it primarily a scourge of Western cities? It’s been years since I lived there, but I don’t recall there being any graffiti in Salt Lake City, Utah. The city was the cleanest I’d ever seen – they even had less random trash blowing around on the street than other cities I’ve visited or lived in. And there were no slums that I encountered. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/11 "2016-04-08T12:15:39Z")
A few months ago I was in Pyongyang (pop. 3.3 million). Absolutely no graffiti whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/12 "2016-04-09T01:56:53Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Singapore is the first one that comes to mind. You can get a rather large fine for even having gum, let alone spitting it out on the street and it is actually enforced with importation bans. An American teen, Michael Fay, was prominent in the national news in 1994 because he was sentenced to caning (more painful and harsher than it sounds) for committing vandalism while he lived in Singapore with his parents. Singapore reduced the number of lashes from 4 to 6 but still ultimately went through with it. Needless to say, they do not have a problem with simple littering in Singapore let alone graffiti. > > Singapore is a nice 1st world city/country but they really, really hate anyone messing up their stuff in any way. According to an acquaintance whose family emigrated from Singapore, their draconian punishments for graffiti were used against a particular type of graffiti – anti-government slogans. Singapore is ruled a one-party government\*, which controls the print & electronic media. So protesting government policies was done by painting slogans on walls or posting flyers in public places. (Like Chinese protesters did in Tiananmen Square.) So the government tried to stop this by having unusually harsh anti-graffiti laws. He also said that the chewing gum ban was enforced because protesters used gum to affix flyers to walls – apparently carrying regular poster-affixing glue was dangerous when the police stopped you, but you could claim that chewing gum was just an innocent item. I’m not sure how accurate this is – most of it comes from things his parents told him. But it does give a different view of this aspect of Singapore. - Other parties are allowed to exist in Singapore. They just aren’t allowed to win elections. Or even compete equally in elections, really. ---
**Author:** ![Richox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Richox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richox)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/13 "2016-04-09T03:59:06Z")
That whole chewing gum thing is now in the realm of urban legend. You can buy gum commonly in Singapore. There may or may not be a law against its import or use, but it’s not enforced ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-cities-without-graffiti/751505/14 "2016-04-09T16:50:44Z")
[Kathmandu _has_ graffiti](http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31908822). It’s just very fucking pretty.