When Nick Whitaker, founder and editor of New York-based Works in Progress magazine, traveled to Singapore, he was shocked to find a high-end road bike worth about US$15,000 ($24,000) abandoned on the side of the road.
He couldn't contain his amazement and decided to share his find via social media X, formerly known as Twitter. In his post, he uploaded a photo of a yellow Pinarello Dogma F12 sitting against a wall and captioned it "the ultimate Singapore culture shock: a $15k bike left unattended".
The post immediately garnered over a million views and sparked an active discussion among social media users, many of whom praised Singapore as a safe destination with low crime rates.
Singapore is known to have one of the lowest crime rates in the world, with petty crimes such as pickpocketing and street theft extremely rare and violent crimes almost unheard of.
The country has also been named one of the safest countries in the world by the Global Law and Order Index. This index describes the level of safety felt by citizens, such as feeling safe walking alone at night and trusting the police.
Singapore also ranks third on the Economist Intelligence Unit's Safe Cities Index for 2021, behind Copenhagen and Toronto. In Singapore, theft is considered to be a criminal offense. Theft is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, or by fine, or by both.
The country's tough approach to crime, even petty crime, has made it one of the safest places in the world. This reputation is reinforced by the travel stories of Charlie Hub, a travel writer, and Lyall Taylor, a finance professional. Both shared their personal experiences of feeling safe in Singapore.
Beyond highlighting Singapore's low crime rate and culture of trust, the viral post sparked a broader conversation about security in different parts of the world.
Many social media users have expressed the hope that the standards of safety and security that exist in Singapore can be adopted as the norm in countries around the world. The strict discipline of the law and the culture of trust that is inherent in this city-state is indeed setting an example that other countries would do well to emulate.
