SINGAPORE: In the wake of recent incidents of people eating or drinking on trains against rules, a woman from the United States said in a recent TikTok that she appreciates the ban on eating and drinking, and noted how clean MRT cabins are.
In a video from last month, the woman who goes by @mags____________________ on the platform, listed the things that she particularly loves as an American expat living in Singapore. She’s been in the city-state for over nine months, as her husband is working here.
@mags____________________ 6 things as an American Expat living in SG that I love!
The first thing she mentioned is how walkable Singapore is, in comparison to the other cities where she and her husband have lived. She said that they get up on Sundays and walk for “hours and hours and hours” to explore different parts of Singapore, and expressed delight with its many paths, parks, and trails. She even walks downtown to meet up with her husband for lunch.
“It’s just awesome,” she added, especially since they don’t have a car.
This led her to her second point, which is that public transport in Singapore is “insanely easy,” with buses and trains running on time, everything is “super clean,” and people are “so respectful.” She then talked about the time she took a sip from her water bottle on the MRT, not realising that this was not allowed. Someone came up to her and politely told her about this, and she added that she appreciated the ban on food and drinks.
“We all know we’ve walked into a New York City subway car… spilled with chicken wings,” she said.
She also raved about Singapore’s “food situation”. Not only is everything she’s used to from home pretty much available at groceries, but she and her husband have also enjoyed the wide variety of cuisines to be had at hawker centres and coffee shops.
Cultural diversity came next on her list, as it had made their lives “really colourful,” followed by Singapore’s location, which has made it so easy for them to fly out to different places in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam on weekends, and they have a lot of travel in store in the coming months
“Love, love, love being on this side of the world,” she said.
The last item on her list is Singapore’s much-vaunted safety situation, which, as a woman, she especially values. While not discounting that others could have a different experience, she has never felt unsafe in Singapore and feels that everyone in the city-state has her best interests.
“Overall, Singapore is as safe as they say,” she added.
She also has a video about what she misses in the US, and her list is mostly made up of creature comforts that people get used to from living in a particular area. Hey, we get it. After all, there’s no place like home.
@mags____________________ Occasionally missing America
/TISG
Read also: Two commuters caught eating and drinking on MRT, sparking public outrage
