I remember once asking one taxi driver about the “No food/drinks!” sign, because I was holding a little candy (not gum, of course), and he said, “In my cab, having a little bit of candy isn’t a problem; it’s more towards the people who have whole McDonald’s meals or durian or a bowl of laksa that I’m worried about.” Though I feel no one has attempted to eat laksa in his cab (although anything is possible, really), I found the driver’s accessibility and friendly humour relieving that I had a couple pieces of candy without any guilt. I don’t eat candies that often in cabs, though.

To add to the previous comments, I don’t think I really missed gum as much when I was living in Singapore. Before living in Singapore, I used to think of it as the place that doesn’t allow gum. But when I started living there, I completely forgot about that stereotype. Even when I went home to Indonesia during school holidays, I never felt the jonesing for gum. Perhaps I got used to the Singaporean way rather quickly when I lived there.