‘Can the USA take notes?’ Harvard student praises Singapore’s public transport

SINGAPORE: A young Harvard student who just arrived in Singapore marvelled at the efficiency and cleanliness of the public transport system in the city-state.

“Can the USA please take notes from Singapore’s transit system?” wrote Nhaomi in the text overlay to her video, where she showed snippets of her first full day in Singapore.

While Nhaomi is doing what appears to be a course at Singapore Management University (SMU), she’s documenting her journey in a series of posts called “a Sistah in Singapore,” where she talks about what it’s like to be a Black woman in the Little Red Dot.

The first thing that has impressed her is Singapore’s public transport.

“Y’all the public transportation here, I kid you not, 10 out of 10,” she said, adding that buses and trains have been on time and even “eerily” clean.

And even when the buses aren’t on time, one or two are already on the way, Nhaomi added.

“Imma need everyone on Singapore’s transit team to start a podcast or something because the coordination x cleanliness combo is chef’s kiss. I need Boston to lock in otherwise imma cry when I get back to campus,” she enthused.

She also featured parts of her day at SMU, where she attended a quick welcome orientation session, and she got to see the campus a little bit.

Nhaomi said, “Is it just me, or does Singapore love a good escalator? I’ve never seen so many escalators in my life, but honestly, it’s efficient (when) you don’t want to take the stairs. “

She and her fellow attendees were then treated to lunch by the SMU‘s global education office, and after some other activities, they continued exploring around and eventually ended up at a mall.

Once there, Nhaomi found another aspect of life in Singapore that she marvelled at: vending machines that dispense fresh orange juice. She featured an iJooz machine in her video, calling it “innovative” and the “greatest idea ever.”

Commenters on her video, which she also posted on Instagram, welcomed her to Singapore.

“Welcome to Singapore, where our public transport is so good that a lot of us gaslight ourselves into thinking it isn’t efficient (idk how they do it),” wrote a TikTok user.

Even Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow commented on her Instagram post, saying, “Welcome to Singapore 🇸🇬 thank you for your compliments.”

When another told her, “We put lifts and escalators everywhere to make everything accessible for those with reduced mobility, and nowadays there are calm rooms in many places for neurodivergents and those with sensory sensitivities,” others agreed about Singapore’s push for accessibility.

However, another TikTok user noted, “America needs to take notes on A LOT more things than just public transport.”

“Not just the USA, the Netherlands too pls,” a commenter chimed in. /TISG

Read also: Malaysian man who came for Eras Tour praises Singapore’s ‘GREAT’ public transport and infrastructure