Everyday practical information for Singapore

Vaping, which changed on 1 May 2026

If you vape, leave it at home. This is the most common way visitors get into trouble in Singapore now.

• The Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act came into force on 1 May 2026 and raised the penalties sharply.
• Purchase, possession or use: a fine of up to S$ 10,000, up from S$ 2,000 before.
• Selling or supplying: up to S$ 200,000 and 6 years. Importing or smuggling: up to S$ 300,000 and 9 years.
• Foreigners caught have the device seized and are issued a Notice of Composition. A visitor who reoffends is banned from re-entering Singapore on departure.
• Etomidate, the anaesthetic found in so-called Kpods, is a Specified Psychoactive Substance under the same Act. It was a Class C controlled drug until 1 May 2026 and was moved across on the day the Act started, which is why older reporting still calls it one. The penalties went up, not down: up to S$ 20,000 or 10 years for an individual, and a foreigner who is caught with an etomidate vape or tests positive for it has their pass revoked and is deported and banned - on the first offence, not the second.
• Over 2,500 people were caught vaping in the first three months of 2026 alone. Enforcement is real and active.
• Carrying a vape through in transit is still importing. Do not pack one.

Drugs

• Trafficking carries the death penalty above statutory quantities that are lower than most visitors assume.
• You can be tested on arrival and prosecuted for drugs consumed outside Singapore. Legal where you smoked it is not a defence here.
• Cannabis and CBD products of every kind are illegal, including oils and edibles bought lawfully abroad.
• This is not a country in which to test any of this.

The famous small rules, and which ones are real

• Smoking is banned almost everywhere outdoors, including most streets in Orchard Road, bus stops, covered walkways and within 5 m of building entrances. Look for the marked yellow boxes.
• Alcohol cannot be sold in shops between 22:30 and 07:00, and drinking in public in that window is an offence. Liquor Control Zones in Geylang and Little India are stricter still.

Everyday

• Electricity is 230 V at 50 Hz with UK-style three-pin plugs. Bring a UK adapter, not a European one.
• English is an official language and everybody speaks it. Singlish is the local variety and you will pick up "can", "cannot" and "lah" quickly.
• Four official languages, English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, and this is a genuinely multicultural country rather than a slogan.
• Dress is casual but cover shoulders and knees for temples and mosques.
• Hawker centre etiquette: "choping". A packet of tissues on a table reserves it. Respect it, and use it.
• Queue properly. Singaporeans queue for everything and jumping one attracts real disapproval.
• Public holidays reflect all the major faiths, so the calendar is busy. Chinese New Year closes a lot of small businesses for two days.