Expat praises Singapore discipline after spotting pedestrian waiting at empty crossing at 1am

SINGAPORE: A pedestrian waiting for the traffic light to turn green, although no one else was around and the streets were empty, impressed an Instagram user, who posted a video of the incident on Tuesday (Feb 24).

“A country where people follow rules even at midnight!!!” Kritika Jain (@theroamingtoes) wrote in the caption, adding, “I don’t know if it’s habit or discipline or just how people are wired. It’s such a small thing. But it says a lot!!!!”

In the text overlay, she explained that she did not know the pedestrian, but added that waiting for the light “demonstrates how small habits shape a country.”

Many people appeared to agree with Ms Jain, as her video has since gotten more than 707,000 likes.

Several commenters praised the discipline found among Singaporeans, with one saying that it’s at “another level.”

And when one commenter wrote that it was fear, not discipline, that causes such behaviour, another replied with: “It’s not just about fear of fines that makes people follow rules. It’s an intrinsic understanding of safety and that all public areas are goods that are paid for with tax dollars.”

“There are no cars in the video, yes, but you never know when a car is barreling towards you out of sight. You’re unable to even assess the risk,” a commenter chimed in.

One wrote, “I do it because I can’t trust a drunk driver to not run a red light when I least expect it.”

Many people had a lot of other good things to say about life in the city-state.

“Been there for a week in Singapore. It’s a beautiful country. What I noticed was the kindness that people had towards each other and in every small thing,” another wrote.

“I’ve been there too… Truly remarkable and kudos to those people!” another added.

Sadly, a commenter wrote, “I did this in India many times, but no one appreciated.”

There were some who disagreed, however, such as the IG user who wrote, “Rules and following them are good for society, but waiting for the traffic light to turn green at 1 in the morning when it’s literally empty is a waste of logic and judgment.”

In her caption, Ms Jain credited another content creator on the platform, @nicoscikill, for inspiring the post. They had seen the same in Japan and posted a video of a pedestrian waiting for the light to turn green at 4:00 a.m. /TISG

Read also: ‘I don’t feel scared at all’: Video of Indian woman in SG walking home alone at 3 am goes viral