Low crime doesn’t mean no crime

Reddit user @amathisaburden was studying at Tampines HUB basement with a friend near the escalator adjacent to Subway. Both of them left their items unattended from 4.37pm to 5.20pm. When the user returned to her table, she noticed her graphic calculator was missing. She took to Reddit to report her loss. The post prompted mixed reviews among the community.

Although some Redditors advised the user to make a police report, others were not as empathetic.

Image Credit: Reddit, r/SGExams

Others in the thread also commented about their own experiences whilst leaving their belongings unattended.

Image Credit: Reddit, r/SGExams

Is Singapore really safe, or is it just complacency?

Singapore is constantly topping “World’s Safest” lists and does boast some of the lowest crime rates in the world. In 2022, a TikToker, Uptin Saiidi (@uptin) tested Singapore’s safety by leaving his laptop unattended in a Starbucks for an hour whilst he went for brunch elsewhere.

He states three reasons why Singapore is so safe: our culture of “honesty and fairness”, “basic needs being met” so “people don’t feel they have to resort to crime”, and surveillance. On the contrary, Redditor @YanniCui remarked that Singaporeans are way too careless with their belongings.

“I know that Singapore is a relatively safe country and we can afford to be a bit lax with our stuff, but I think this mentality has to stop. Today, a guy left his credit card unattended. I find this sense of safety to be rather ridiculous as it sets us up to be sitting ducks in the future, and makes us vulnerable overseas.”

Image Credit: Reddit

Some Singaporeans shared their experiences overseas. Redditor @DatAdra recalls how she once accidentally used her wallet to reserve a seat during lunch hour. Although it was still there when she came back, she knows if she had been as careless in London while she studied overseas, it would be “tantamount to throwing her wallet in the sea”.

Another commenter mentioned the horror stories she had heard about her relatives having their belongings stolen whilst overseas. “As Singapore progresses, it will be like other developed countries where people are very trusting, more civilised, and tend to leave and forget things. You see Singaporeans blatantly leaving handbags and phones to go to the toilet in restaurants and cafes in Australia, Japan, and Europe. You would never see this (behaviour) from 3rd world countries,” user @ComradeSg said.

Although Singapore does have the lowest crime and theft rates, making it one of the safest countries in the world, complacency should not be practised. At the end of the day, low crime doesn’t mean no crime.