Thanks for sharing. I think you're likely right about differences in measurement between the two countries.
That said - Singapore still has lower murder rates than Norway (something I assume is more easily measured). This could be cultural and not due to the justice system, but I think it's still worth pointing out that the super-harsh method happens in the developed world today, whereas the article just talked about the hotel/education Norwegian method.
From what I have read, investment in family, children and education goes a lot further to reduce crime than harsher prison sentences and the like. I have seen it said that every dollar spent on preschool saves multiple dollars years down the road on prisons.
The two cultures are undoubtedly different in many different metrics. It is incredibly hard to compare two different cultures in a way that yields specific meaningful conclusions for a single metric. Each difference has multiple different implications. Teasing apart the complex web of differences is vastly harder than most comments in internet discussion seem to appreciate.
That said - Singapore still has lower murder rates than Norway (something I assume is more easily measured). This could be cultural and not due to the justice system, but I think it's still worth pointing out that the super-harsh method happens in the developed world today, whereas the article just talked about the hotel/education Norwegian method.