Men Face Up to 5 Years’ Jail for $1 Bribes in S’pore; News Even Got Reported on BBC

Singapore is known for many things: our food is the best in Southeast Asia (hello, my Malaysian friends), our streets are so clean that you can lick the ground, Nas Daily loves the country as much as he loves shouting into a camera, our weather is never predictable and also, we’re one of the least corrupted countries in the world.

And it’s not just say-say hor, because like what the headline suggests, you’ll get into trouble even for a $1 bribe.

But of course it probably isn’t just $1. Read on.

$1 Bribes

Yesterday, it’s reported that two forklift operators were charged for allegedly getting $1 bribes.

Lest you think that forklift is something related to the cutlery, I’ve taken the liberty to show you what a forklift is.

Yeah, it’s that big machine which can lift pallets of goods. In case you’re not aware, you need a forklift licence to operate a forklift, but this has nothing to do with the bribes.

Instead, the bribes come from truck drivers.

Truck Drivers Offered Bribes to Forklift Operators

Two forklift operators, Chen Ziliang and Zhao Yucun, worked for Cogent Container Depot.

According to reports, Chen tried to obtain a $1 bribe from truck drivers—the exchange? He would not delay the return of containers to the trucks, or not delay the return of containers to the trucks.

It’s unclear how many “$1’s” he obtained, but read on because this is important.

The other operator, Zhao, committed the same offence.

It sure sounds like a threat for money—I mean, if my colleague forced me to give $1 just so I won’t be reprimanded by my boss for late work, I would feel threatened, too.

It’s unknown how much the two forklift operators got in total.

Why is $1 so significant?

Well, simple: because the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) has a message to convey.

They said, “Employees are expected to carry out their duties fairly instead of obtaining bribes in exchange for favours.”

And here’s the ticket: “Even if the bribe amount is as low as $1, they can be taken to task. Bribes of any amount or any kind will not be tolerated.”

Yeah, so don’t pray pray. It’s not about the amount; it’s about your integrity, my dearest friend.

So Amazing, Even BBC Picked Up the News

Lest you’re not aware, BBC is a London-based public service broadcaster. Other than being the world’s oldest national broadcasting organization, it is also the largest if we measure by the number of employees: it has well over 20K employees.

So for BBC to pick up a news like this is…really news.

The good thing is that BBC praised Singapore indirectly, stating that “Singapore takes pride in its reputation as one of the world’s least corrupt countries” and “The island nation consistently ranks among the least corrupt countries in the world, ranking sixth on Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perception Index.”

Well, at least now tourists who’re visiting would know that you can’t anyhowly bribe anyone, even if it’s $1.