It's all about Cultivation...

Singapore is a safe country, very much like Austria. Ladies or in fact anyone can walk along the streets at night without having to worry about snatch thieves or people with ill-intents trying to sneak up on them.

Additionally, I noticed that the Austrians have reached a certain level of self-restraint and may I say "Cultivation" that Singaporeans might not have yet achieved.

For one, let me quote the example of the corn fields. It is not difficult to spot large patches of corn fields along the road in Summer. There's no fences guarding against unauthorised plucking, no spy cameras, no guard dogs, nothing. There might be some individuals who venture to pluck a few of the corns but nothing really to worry the farmers so much so to translate their worries into actions.



In some flower fields, I also noticed a big placard instructing the customers to pluck the flowers themselves and then to deposit the cash in a box located in the middle of the field. The cash box is simply secured by a padlock, nothing more.

And the most common sight would have to be the newspaper "sales point" tied around the lamp posts along the streets. It is made up of a plastic bag which resembles a folder with a cover flap. In the morning, the newspaper van would drive along the streets, collect whatever newspapers were unsold from the bag and load in fresh prints for the day. Also tied to the lamp post just above the bag would be a small rectangular piggy bank box with prints instructing on the price per copy. The method of transaction is simple:

(1) Take a copy of newspaper from the plastic folder.

(2) Slot your coins into the piggy bank box.

(3) Transaction completed.



Life can be simple. It just takes people to behave with self-restraint and may I say "Cultivation".