Singapore is the only place I’ve ever been where chewing gum is illegal. I didn’t know this as I innocently chewed some gum on the immaculate Singapore MRT. Luckily I got away with it.

I’ve visited Singapore twice, both times while travelling to and from Australia. It’s the perfect place to break up the trip to Australia, and the mix of cultures makes Singapore a really fun place to spend 24 hours. You can be transported from Little Delhi to the Buddha Tooth Relic temple in minutes. Every imaginable type of cuisine is on offer and the mix of Chinese, Malay and Indian cultures lends Singapore a feeling unlike any other city on earth.

I spent the rest of my time in Singapore eating delicious chicken and rice and sipping refreshing Singapore Slings at Raffles. I even got to enjoy the sunset from the top of the dazzling Marina Bay Sands skyscraper.

Singapore is a great place to spend a few days, but I was really surprised to learn about its politics. The People’s Action Party has been in power for six consecutive decades and Singapore is often described simultaneously as a technocratic dream state and a thinly veiled dictatorship.

I really recommend taking a look at this Polymatter video exploring the political situation in Singapore.