Close one eye? Woman says she was stopped by ICA officers over chewing gum, surprising netizens
Singapore is internationally and famously well known for having a chewing gum ban, but is it actively enforced here?
Well, one Singaporean woman recently found that out the hard way, that even bringing back small quantities of chewing gum can land one in trouble.
In a now-deleted video shared last Sunday (Oct 23), TikTok user Its_cheryl shared how she was stopped by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers after returning from her holiday in Johor Bahru.
In her video, she shows herself walking behind an immigration officer who was later seen dumping some chewing gum into a bin.
The 19-year-old also said that she had only brought in two small tubes of chewing gum that she had bought from a convenience store in Malaysia.
In the comments, several netizens were surprised that ICA officers would go through the hassle of holding the woman up in an office while they disposed the small quantities of gum.
"Literally the first person I know getting caught for this," a netizen said, while others claimed that ICA officers would "close one eye" when they bring back chewing gum for personal consumption.
The confusion surrounding the chewing gum law continued on social media after TikTok user Darlenivanderwind pointed out that there's no law in Singapore that prohibits the consumption of chewing gum.
[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@darlenivanderwindt/video/7157272044663540993?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=7157272044663540993[/embed]
When asked about the chewing gum ban on Tuesday (Oct 25), ICA referred AsiaOne to their website stating the prohibited items that are not allowed to be imported into Singapore.
This includes chewing gum, except for those for dental and medicinal purposes.
Others include chewing tobacco, controlled drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as obscene materials.
In a TikTok video shared on Oct 21, the Ministry of Home Affairs warned of "no more promised happiness" for those looking to smuggle contraband items back into Singapore.
[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@mhasingapore/video/7156577425441279233?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7156394213193238017[/embed]
According to the Health Sciences Authority, visitors are only allowed to bring in up to three months' supply of Singapore-registered medicinal chewing gum or oral dental gum into the country.
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chingshijie@asiaone.com
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