[mnemonicsloth]

You're not being nit-picky. You're exactly right, and I obviously wasn't paying attention when I was editing. I don't know what Singapore was like when its economy was developing, but today it is legendarily (sometimes hilariously) authoritarian.

The wikipedia article on their universal chewing gum ban is a fun read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_ban_in_Singapore

[dasil003]

Indeed it is. Check out this quote contrasted against the typical aseptic, fragmented prose of wikipedia:

Details of the closed-door negotiations are unknown, but it became apparent that by the final phase of the negotiation in early 2003, there remained two sticky issues: the War in Iraq and chewing gum.

That is by far the funniest thing I've read on Wikipedia.