Yellow boxes had always been a social culture in Singapore. Some of them have enacted laws, while others are standard practice by all Singaporeans. In summary, yellow boxes are spaces in public areas that are either painted yellow, or with yellow tapes.
Here are some examples of yellow boxes in Singapore
Smoking area
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Made popular in military camps. Every serviceman in Singapore knows that you can only smoke at the Yellow Box area. If caught smoking outside the box, be prepared to get 'extra duties' (punishments)
Bicycle park
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A couple of years back, like many countries around the world, there was a sudden surge in popularity for bike sharing. Within weeks, our tiny island was flooded with tens of thousands of bicycles. The irresponsible behaviour of many users left bicycles every where, creating a real eye sore. The authorities quickly mandate that these bicycles can only be parked at designated yellow boxes like the one above. If caught dumping bicycles elsewhere, the bike sharing company will get fined and users have their account suspended.
Now with Covid19, Yellow boxes are back
In some countries, it's called social distancing. In Singapore, it's safe distancing and there are penalties if you don't comply.
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Outside of their homes, people should maintain a distance of 1 metre from each other. Outside of every restaurants, shops, or mall, there are tiny small yellow boxes and patrons are expected to stand in those while queueing. Maintain a safe distance of 1m from the others.
To minimise crowds in Supermarket, there are also yellow boxes that you are not supposed to be inside.
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Even confine areas like inside the lift. Tiny yellow boxes just enough for one person to stand on.
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Temples, Supermaket, Schools, Cafes, Weddings, social distancing in Yellow Boxes. Smoking? Ironic.
Covid19 situation in Singapore
Unlike many neighbouring countries, Singapore is not in lockdown yet, and probably will never be. The government is adamant that lockdown is not going to happen. But the restrictions and advisories are getting stricter everyday. Today, they are telling us not to visit shopping malls unless necessary. Schools are still not closed although they are implementing a one-day home schooling per week.
Singapore is one of the first country outside of China to report cases of Covid19. But 3 months on, we had managed to keep the situation quite under control, with only 800 cases and just 2 deaths. Singapore is a small country and much easier to control the spread. Hopefully this pandemic can quickly come to an end soon.