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SINGAPORE: Is the Little Red Dot one of the safest cities in the world? One tourist from China appears to think so, marvelling over social media when she saw a mobile phone left unattended on a tray in a fast food restaurant earlier this month.
In a post on Xiaohongshu, which is often described as “China’s Instagram,” the tourist posted a photo of a phone on a tray at a McDonald’s outlet beside a half-full cup of coffee. While no one was seated at the table, there was also a tote bag in front of the tray, which suggests that the phone’s owner had left momentarily, according to a report in 8days.
The Xiaohongshu user captioned her post with “This is Singapore. The [owner of the phone] is nowhere in sight, but their phone is still here,” along with the hashtag “the calibre of Singaporeans”.
Many netizens commenting on the 8days report have compared the security in Singapore rather unfavourably to their own countries, where presumably, probably no one would even think of leaving their mobile phone unattended.
“Can never say the same thing about Malaysia and Malaysians,” wrote one.
“It’s true that Singapore is a very safe place. I’m on holiday for one week and forgot to lock my bicycle. Omg, luckily the bicycle is still in the same place!” commented another.
A Facebook user said, “If in Malaysia, confirm [it] would be gone long ago.”
Another noted, “Lots of reasons for this. CCTVs are inside restaurants. Nowadays, it’s very easy to trace missing phone or earbuds, etc, etc. Stealing has no point, not worth much to sell nowadays, even if you can unlock the phone.”
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Others, however, warned people that while Singapore’s reputation for safety is well-earned, people should still be careful with their belongings and not leave their valuables wherever they please.
“Depends leh, a lot of places are full of foreigners nowadays, so [it’s] no longer safe. Unless residential areas with mainly Singaporeans there,” one wrote.
One warned, “Don’t try your luck. Never try your luck,” while another wrote, “Don’t take things too easy!”
A commenter suggested that the owner of the phone had just gotten lucky this time.
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Over the past year, there have been people who have posted about not being able to get their lost phones back, like this woman who left her iPhone at a women’s restroom at Paya Lebar Quarter on New Year’s Day and this resident who put out a “curse” to work its magic on the person who stole their phone.
Last October, a man’s post went viral after he said he would give a $10,000 reward for the iPhone 15 Pro Max that his wife lost in the bathroom at ION, no questions asked. /TISG
Read related: Only in SG: Reddit users amazed at mobile phone & wallet used to chope table
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