Posted on 07/17/2023 3:36:05 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The grass ain't always greener on the other side.
It took a month-long trip to the US and Canada for TikTok user Sophieonggg to fully grasp that life in Singapore is actually pretty good.
It seems the difference between some of her North American adventures and what she would experience back home was pretty stark.
On Monday (July 10), Sophieonggg posted on TikTok a diary of some of the more unpleasant experiences she had during the trip.
She labelled it as "super different" before noting that Singapore will always be her home.
Dirty, in every sense of the word While Sophieonggg was very much aware of Singapore's impeccable level of public safety, she did not know just how different it was in other cities abroad.
"I witnessed someone getting overdosed from drugs with a group of adults, who left that teen alone," she shared.
Sophieonggg recounted that she came across drunkards and druggies during her trip, and while she knew some of them were harmless, she said she was always on her toes while out and about.
She noted: "Many times I do get scared and just forget to breathe."
Another observation she made was how dirty public spaces could be, to the point that Sophieonggg could smell urine "everywhere [she] walked every day".
Just think back, when was the last time you sniffed that same stench in a public space in Singapore?
Some of the public toilets Sophieonggg visited weren't much better, with no flush or tap in the toilet.
"The dirty [toilets] are those that do not have ventilation, and you could smell everything without even entering," she added.
Singaporean food trumps all A month in the US and Canada confirmed for Sophieonggg that Singaporean food beats theirs hands down.
Local foodies might snigger at her plight, in a you-should-have-known-better fashion, but Sophieonggg had no clue then that she'd eventually get "really tired" of American food.
It didn't help that her cravings for Asian food weren't exactly met because of the exorbitant prices over there.
According to Sophieonggg, a Haidilao meal for four in the US would cost US$400 (S$535). That's about $133 per person.
In comparison, a Haidilao meal in Singapore costs roughly $50 per pax.
Although Singapore is expensive, the food she came across in North America was even more so, Sophieonggg said.
Case in point, there was an apparent lack of affordable, coffee-shop-priced meals.
AsiaOne has reached out to Sophieonggg.
In the comments section, local netizens got rather patriotic and backed Sophieonggg's positive points on living in Singapore.
A TikTok user shared that she had similar experiences when travelling in the UK, as she "didn't dare to go out alone" at night.
That said, Sophieonggg added a disclaimer in the comments section that what she has shared were her personal opinions and experiences.
"It does not depict the whole country and everyone's experiences," she commented.
“This is why we can’t have nice things!”
Many places in Asia are better than cities in the US and Can-of-dog.
Yes we as a culture accept sub par thinking and sub par actions and conditions as normal. Probably the result of low class mass education that really serves no purpose. Unless that purpose is catering to stupidity. Catering to the acceptance of not thinking not learning not understanding not caring.
Asia enforces good order. It’s what we used to do, coupled with human rights.
Singapore is clean and orderly, and you will NEVER see homelessness, drug addiction, vagrancy, public urination, gangs of teen thugs, etc...
so indeed, for someone born and raised there, urban USA could be a shock.
the difference between a free society and a highly regulated society.
Since 1965, we have imported the third world and their cultures, while reducing our standard of living.
Singapore may be too autocratic. But I imagine they can't understand how we revere and coddle our criminals, and we just let them go without bail, and practically encourage them to commit more crime.
You mean since 1850?
freedom does NOT mean the ability live life "consequence-free" and avoid the consequences of vagrancy, drug addiction, committing petty crime, etc...
Indeed, all of this impinges on the rights, property and freedom of others.
Americans used to be able to hold this distinction in their minds. As a society, we became stupid, and emotional
Freedom has a price, and sometimes its heavy.
If you sacrifice freedom for security, the use of “security” cAn increase until freedom is gone.
Yes, Singapore is clean (even littering has big penalties), but some find the government overbearing and while the Constitution says the people have civil liberties, like speech and the press, an article of the same Constitution allows the government to pass laws to restrict those things, which it has done.
In some ways Singapore operates on similar basis as the CCP - focusing on “economic freedoms” and with those buying compliance on some losses of other freedoms. In both cases the governments/party in power - claims their success has depended on the government’s restrictive hold on rights.
Do you think the U.S. should require those who won't emigrate to our country to abandon their religion and become atheist?
I don’t agree, at all, the the CCP focuses on “economic freedoms.” That is a myth.
And yet the veggie is leading in the polls??? WTF!!!
If you see my post #9, yes, Singapore is too autocratic. But we don’t need to coddle criminals to have less crime.
If you like living in concrete, urban jungles, then Singapore and Hong Kong are great. But yeah, people from those cities who expect US cities (and Toronto from what I saw) to be like those two are in for very rude awakenings.
Correct! - Freedom within a free society comes with the responsibility to act accordingly.
Isn’t Singapore the place where they’ll cane you for littering?
Yet.... When contrasted to third world conditions in most US cities....
Decisions, decisions.
All of it is true, from experience. I have been to Singapore.
A lot of the urban US is seriously compromised and difficult to live in, for many reasons. And this is so in comparison to many other places, not just Singapore.
And I’m talking of Paris and London, no matter the prevalent stories. And Spain is mostly at “leave your door unlocked” levels of safety. Not to mention that the prices at restaurants would please the Singapore lady.
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