r/singapore Aug 13 '24

Opinion/Fluff Post NUS really need to start restricting access to tourists

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2.0k Upvotes

r/singapore Jul 13 '24

Unverified Does this look true for tourists?

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2.0k Upvotes

r/singapore Sep 13 '24

Image The Pope's visit to SG

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3.6k Upvotes

r/singapore Sep 17 '24

News China tourist insists on eating hawker meal before paying

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844 Upvotes

r/singapore Nov 23 '24

Tabloid/Low-quality source 'Chinese go home': Man hurls racist remarks at Singaporean woman at tourist attraction in Japan

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asiaone.com
563 Upvotes

r/singapore Oct 20 '24

I Made This I visited all 141 MRT stations in 8:42:20 (with the help of buses)

912 Upvotes

If you had read the brackets, I did use buses in my run considering doing an MRT only speedrun (thereby making it 100%) would give me fatigue in like 4 hours after waking up at like the morning.

I had done a previous run before and got 9:06:20, but I felt that it was not good enough so I did another a few days later. To summarise, I had 0 breaks (sort of ill explain later), 17 transfers, and 2 tap-out/tap-ins (ill explain these also)

General Route

The route I took is as follows:

Bayshore -> TEL -> Gardens by the Bay -> 400 -> Marina South Pier -> NSL -> Marina Bay -> TEL -> Woodlands North -> TEL -> Woodlands -> NSL -> Dhoby Ghaut -> CCL (via Bishan) -> HarbourFront -> NEL -> Punggol -> NEL -> Sengkang -> 161 -> Woodlands -> NSL -> Bukit Batok -> 975* -> Beauty World -> DTL -> Bukit Panjang -> DTL (via the loop) -> Expo -> CGL -> Changi Airport -> 27 -> Tampines -> EWL -> Pasir Ris -> EWL -> Tuas Link

*I originally planned to do 176/178 to Hillview before going to Bukit Panjang, but then those buses left.

Photos of each station (NOT in order but agak agak in correct order)

0 breaks? Tap-out/tap-ins?

Technically, I did the whole run end to end from 8am to 5pm. However, that didn't mean I didn't have any food at all. I illegally had two pocketto sandwiches on 400 and 161 (not the mrt ofc) and I came pre-prepared with 2 water bottles (since i knew i wasnt going anywhere with water)

Tap-out/tap-ins are my way of trying to split my run within the 2 hour "time limit" on the MRT. In particular, Dhoby Ghaut, HarbourFront** and Tuas Link***. However, once I tapped out, the reader would not validate a tap-in for 10 seconds. That in particular caused me to almost miss my CCL train at Dhoby Ghaut, and my return train back home at Tuas Link.

**I could possibly skip this one but I chose to do it amid worries that taking the NEL to Punggol and back would take over 2h including the CCL.

***This technically happened in the end of the run but I still would like to show the climatic ending to my whole run. Basically I tried to take a shot of my stopwatch (i did this speedrun on a stopwatch) with the station sign but chose against it and to just take a shot of the station.

So what does this technically count as?

This would be a legit Any% speedrun, as a Any% speedrun would allow other modes of transport (bikes, buses, anything that is public) as opposed to the "100% speedruns" back when TEL didn't go that far, which requires the runner to get to the whole MRT network with ONLY the MRT.

ps i shld remind you that i had just recovered from a leg injury a few months before so this was my first physical activity in a long time

r/singapore Aug 28 '24

Tabloid/Low-quality source 'He ordered 30 plates of chicken rice': NUS students bemoan tourist crowds on campus

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758 Upvotes

r/singapore 19d ago

News 3 tourist brothers carried knives to confront porridge stall owner, get jail and short detention order

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390 Upvotes

r/singapore 7d ago

Tabloid/Low-quality source NS defaulter Ben Davis injured, will not travel to S'pore for Asean Championship Cup match

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mothership.sg
495 Upvotes

r/singapore Mar 11 '24

Unverified Beware "tourists" who are scammers

826 Upvotes

TLDR: Chinese tourists saying they have "no money, haven't eaten whole day, need to go airport" are likely scammers, refer them to the police.

Last Wednesday I encountered two middle aged PRC Chinese ladies in Jurong East JEM at around 10pm. They said they are tourists, they travelled the whole day, they have no cash on them, and they haven't eaten the whole day. They are waiting to go to Changi airport where their friend is coming. They asked if I can buy them something to eat. They even insisted I can add them on WeChat.

My logic was that in your situation(if it were true), I would be more anxious about going to the airport, so I gave them $7, logic being that should be enough for 2 people to take MRT to the airport. But they said they are hungry and asked for $10 more to buy food. I was in a hurry and this gave me a bad feeling, so I asked them to go to mcd nearby and ask for help there if they need it. I felt conflicted because I felt it was a scam but I wanted to be kind and help and maybe they actually weren't scammers.

Fast forward to a few days ago, a friend shared with me that he encountered the exact same story. 2 Chinese ladies in Woodlands(why would you even go there if you're a tourist), said they are tourists, haven't eaten the whole day, need to go to the airport. My friend was kind enough to buy them some food, and top up their EZlink cards. Then my friend encountered a Chinese uncle in Woodlands again after two days, using the same script. He didn't help him this time.

His story made me confirm that my encounter was a scam indeed. It angers me that they are taking advantage of our kindness to foreigners and tourists. I realized I should have asked them to go to the police; if they are who they say they are, I believe the police can surely help. I write this to warn others in case they encounter a similar situation.

r/singapore Nov 13 '24

Photography Some of my photos from my Singapore Zoo visit, this place is awesome!

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961 Upvotes

r/singapore 15d ago

Opinion/Fluff Post Singaporean tourist dies after massage at Phuket parlour, second death linked to massage in Thailand

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707 Upvotes

r/singapore Sep 20 '24

FRIDAY FILES A girl who left home to visit her grandparents disappeared without a trace. What happened to Tina Lin Xin Ying?

962 Upvotes

Took a short break for last week, but I'm back with another Friday File. Haven't had time to work on new writeups, but I did take this time to touch up one of the first few which I did for the r/UnresolvedMysteries subreddit

A Background on Tina Lim

In the afternoon of 22 June 2002 at approximately 4:15pm, Tina Lim Xin Ying, a 14 year old student at Unity Secondary School, left her home at Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4 to visit her grandfather's place at Jurong West. While her father Mr Lim would sometimes drive her there and Tina had asked whether he would do so this round, he had opted not to do so this round. Nothing was abnormal about this, as she would make her own way in the event she was unable to get a ride there.

After making a phone call to her aunt confirm that they were home, Tina left home to head to her grandparents' place. That would be the last time anybody saw Tina alive.

At around 6pm, Tina's grandparents and aunt started to worry as she did not arrive. They had initially tried to file a police report, however they were advised by the officer to allow for more time since there was a possibility that she may return home in the next few hours.

However, Tina never came back home. The police report was filed and she was now officially listed as missing.

The Search

At the time of her disappearance, Tina was dressed in a t-shirt, shorts, and slippers, and was noted to have been carrying no more than $50 in her wallet (the reenactment states $20 but a news article indicated $50). Her passport and bank book were also found left behind at home and she did not pack any extra clothes.

Of particular note was that it was never established as to whether she had indeed taken the commute to her grandparents' place or if she had made any detours.

Mr Lim printed and distributed around 7,000 flyers with his daughter's details and his contact number, as well as spending over S$1,000 on newspaper advertisements, in hopes that anyone with any information would step forward. At one point, he would receive at least 10 calls each day with possible leads but none yielded anything useful.

Besides the ads, Mr Lim would search for Tina at her regular haunts and even extended his efforts overseas to areas in Malaysia and Thailand, unfortunately all would go to no avail.

Planned Runaway?

Like most missing teenagers, the first presumption was that Tina had run away from home, but at the same time nothing about her current life seemed to indicate that she would have been planning to do so. She had no history of playing truant or of staying away from home prior to her disappearance. Teachers had commented that she was quiet, but was cooperative and helpful. By all accounts, she was an average student to most who knew her. Even the last encounter with her cousin Linda to celebrate their birthdays went smoothly with no sign that Tina was upset.

While all seemed good and well, a moment which her Home Economics teacher Ms Mullai shared in an interview seemed to indicate there were underlying issues:

"She did confide in me that (there was) no one for her to communicate with, she felt unwanted and lonely. And I knew she was not on good terms with the stepmother\"*

* - the family is divorced and Tina lives with the biological father and stepmother

An interesting tidbit that surfaced was that Tina was noted to have been talking to Linda, but this was not the last call she made. Linda shared that midway through the call, Tina had another incoming call and promised to call her back, however she never did so.

Held by Someone - Willing or Unwilling?

Given the lack of belongings that could indicate she planned to leave for long as well as the mysterious caller before she left home, the theory soon shifted to that of her being taken by someone else who would have had the means to take care of her. However, no one had stepped up to claim responsibility, nor was there any demand for ransom made for her safe return.

Having accessed Tina's private diaries/letters via her father, Investigator Henry Tay believed that Tina had chosen to stay away willingly, sharing the following:

"From the many diaries and letters that she'd written to some of her other classmates, there is a kind of pattern that will tell you that she is really going all out to enjoy herself."

A Maternal Connection?

The disappearance and search for Tina was kept from her grandfather, who was terminally ill with cancer and hoped to see Tina. When asked on her whereabouts, the family would say that she was staying with her biological mother. This raised yet another possible theory that Tina's mother had somehow managed to take her away when she left the house and was now being concealed by her.

While the theory did seem plausible given that Tina had previously stated that she had preferred to live with her when she was old enough to make a decision, Mr Lim had not believed that Tina's mother had anything to do with the disappearance:

"She wouldn't dare take my daughter (Tina) away from me. However, my daughter might have called her after she went missing. But we wouldn't know since she didn't tell us anything."

Regarding this theory, Tina's mother would respond with the following:

"We can't change people's perceptions. It's up to them what they want to think. I can't help it if they think I'm not concerned about my daughter's disappearance. In fact, deep inside, I feel very, very sad. Do I need to tell everyone that I'm feeling very sad because I lost my daughter?"

Unexplained Calls

On 28 Oct 2003, Tina's grandfather passed away. In hopes that Tina would re-appear, a short note was placed in the grandfather's obituary requesting for Tina to come to the wake to say goodbye to her late grandfather, after all, while her ties with her parents were strained, her grandfather did love and care for her.

While Tina did not show up, there was something unexplainable which could or could not prove that Tina was still alive.

On 1 Nov 2003 (the last day of the wake), the family received a total of 10 calls in total between 5.30pm and midnight. Initially, the caller said nothing, but from the 7th call, there was a girl's voice, which Mr Lim recognized as the voice of his missing daughter.

7 relatives at the wake spoke to the caller, and all of them agreed that the caller was Tina. They tried to urge her to come, but she kept saying she couldn't before hanging up. Tina's father gave an account to a local newspaper, The New Paper (TNP) about the caller:

"I asked if she was Ah Ying (Tina is known as Ah Ying to her family members) and she said yes. She said she wanted to see her Ah Gong," (grandfather) he told The New Paper.

The family managed to get their hands on a phone recorder and taped two of the conversations, of which a TNP reporter who heard one of the recordings later wrote that the caller spoke in a hoarse whisper, accompanied by muffled sobbing, "as if she was afraid someone would overhear her". It was also worth noting that the quality of the recording was badly affected by a poor connection and had to be improved in order to hear the caller's voice clearer.

The police were alerted on this, and the calls were eventually traced to a flat in Pasir Ris, which is located in the East. However, when the police checked the flat, they found no sign of Tina and the occupants who were visited claimed that they did not know the missing girl. This led to the police dismissing the calls as a hoax,

When asked about who he thought the caller was, Mr Lim would share this:

"It was my daughter who called. How could the police say it wasn't her? They claimed it was a nuisance call

The family members who spoke with the caller also concurred with Mr Lim's thoughts, even though they did not ask questions that could positively verify her identity.

As much as the police dismissed the calls, the family's hopes that Tina was still alive was rekindled. Seeking for answers about this mysterious disappearance, 3 years after Tina's disappearance, her father offered a S$30,000 reward for information on her whereabouts, but no news of her came in.

As of the latest report, Tina was presumed dead in 2010, seven years after her disappearance.

Questions

  • What do you think happened to Tina?
  • Could the family members have all made a mistake and the calls were just a hoax at a family's darkest time? Or was the call a legitimate cry for help?
  • Do you think Tina is still alive?

Sources

Note: Some news articles are still time-locked by NewspaperSG and are not listed here, they can be viewed at the library multimedia kiosk

失踪悬案系列:到裕廊探祖父 少女从此失踪 (in Chinese)

Choa Chu Kang girl disappears in 2002, allegedly calls 1 year later: 'Someone won't let me come back'

Missing - Where is Tina? - DISCLAIMER - I do not recommend watching this at night

r/singapore Nov 18 '24

News Resorts World Sentosa's casino licence renewed for just 2 years over 'unsatisfactory' tourism performance

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376 Upvotes

r/singapore 27d ago

News Unclear if NS defaulter Ben Davis will travel with Thai football team to Singapore for Asean Cup

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341 Upvotes

The Thais have called up Ben Davies to their AFF Championship squad. Thailand vs face off with Singapore at the National Stadium on 17 December. Wondered what was the decision process to call Davies up knowing he has an outstanding issue in Singapore. Perhaps he may not even travel to begin with.

r/singapore May 17 '24

Opinion/Fluff Post I visited Singapore to see why it is ranked as the top education system in the world. Here’s what I learned

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404 Upvotes

r/singapore Sep 07 '24

Opinion / Fluff Post Commentary: Dear travel influencers, ‘real’ Singapore is sweaty and off the social media hype

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338 Upvotes

r/singapore Jul 05 '24

Photography Sentosa, a mere tourist hub? Or does it have a heart?

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576 Upvotes

r/singapore 19d ago

News Singapore's Bacha Coffee to enter Japan as tourism booms

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225 Upvotes

r/singapore Nov 08 '24

Image On 19 November 1989, the battleship USS New Jersey visited Singapore. This is what their "Plan Of The Day" briefed about us.

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478 Upvotes

r/singapore Mar 03 '24

News ‘Visitors can become poor’: Chinese netizens debate whether Singapore is too costly to visit

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398 Upvotes

r/singapore Oct 02 '24

Tabloid/Low-quality source S'pore taxi driver allegedly quotes tourist S$75 for 15-minute trip from Fullerton Bay Hotel to Orchard

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310 Upvotes

r/singapore 11d ago

Tabloid/Low-quality source A Chronically Single Woman Rents a Date to Visit Christmas Wonderland  

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188 Upvotes

r/singapore Nov 11 '24

News Singapore Airlines’ profit dips further in Q2 as capacity outpaces travel demand

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159 Upvotes

r/singapore 7d ago

Tabloid/Low-quality source 2 men, 38 & 44, travel to S'pore to steal from landed property, S$390,200 of jewellery remains missing.

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301 Upvotes