"Damn, damn you," the cabbie shouts. That's an approximation, in reality each curse began with the letter f. He quickly turns around and apologizes unreservedly before giving his "welcome to Singapore" spiel.
The cab had just driven through traffic lights on amber and a camera had clicked. It was the second time it had happened to him in three months. The taxi starts bleeping loudly but the driver ignores the signal telling him that now he is breaking the speed limit by five kilometres an hour. "I will now lose my licence and be fined," he complains. "I drive for a living. Of course I will go through the odd light that is changing to red. It's natural. They are just far too strict."
"They'" is the government of Singapore or, as one local describes it, "Daddy". The paternal government has kept watch since statehood was achieved in 1965.