Well, if you had done that in Singapore, heck, not even worked, just overstayed your visa, you would have both gone to prison and been caned.

Visa laws for countries can be very, very serious. Violating them can get you in a lot of trouble - certainly not unique to the United States. In comparison to a lot of other countries, the United States isn't even particularly harsh if you overstay your visa - certainly no caning.