Safety has always been among the biggest pulls for people overseas to come to Singapore, and that was the case for one woman from California.
She moved from her hometown, Cupertino City, to San Francisco to complete her studies. But, over time, she realised it was not the most ideal place for her, so she moved to Singapore six months ago.
Heather, aka @unicornheatt, shared in a TikTok video that the security of the Lion City was what prompted her to stay.
Her decision is in light of several incidents she experienced back in the Californian city.
Heather started her clip by saying that she never expected she would leave San Francisco.
Originally from Cupertino, California, she went to San Francisco in 2013 for her undergraduate studies in Architecture.
“The dream was always to go to San Francisco ’cause it’s the best city in the world — or so I thought,” she said.
According to Heather, the city has been on the decline since the introduction of Proposition 47 in 2014. It is a law that reclassified stealing from a felony to a misdemeanour.
The woman explained that this new law allowed people who steal to feel like there are no consequences to their actions. She also added that there is a general feeling of “lawlessness” there.
As such, Heather’s biggest reason for leaving is the safety concerns she had. Unfortunately, she experienced “smash-and-grabs” first-hand several times back in San Francisco.
She shared that someone had smashed her car windows and stole from the vehicle within six months of getting a car in 2021.
“That happened to me three times in my first year of owning a car.”
Secondly, Heather felt safer walking around as a girl in Singapore.
To support this, she recounted an experience she had while going for a dental appointment in San Francisco.
As it was the middle of the work day, she thought it would be “perfectly safe”.
“I was assaulted, midday, on my way back from my dental appointment,” Heather disclosed.
Source: TikTok
“[I was] so shocked that someone was shaking me vigorously, I didn’t say anything. There were people around me, [but] no one said anything. It just kind of shook me to the core,” she recounted.
Finally, Heather brought up the prevalence of gun violence in San Francisco as another aspect of her safety concerns there.
Illustrating her point, she told the story of how she saw a man running around openly with a gun while she was walking her dog, a week before moving to Singapore.
The man was supposedly carrying other unknown items when he ran within three metres of her and her pet.
Source: TikTok
“And in that moment, I saw my life flash before my eyes.”
Heather then claims that many in San Francisco advise girls to carry a taser or pepper spray for self-defence, but it would not help someone who freezes in dangerous situations.
“Wow, how useless would that be to carry a pepper spray? Like, what am I going to do? He shoots me, and what, I spray some pepper spray?” she questioned.
This added to her feeling of helplessness in San Francisco, she said.
There were also cases of pet theft that put her on edge every time she was out with her dog.
“So there’s just this general feeling of unease and lack of security [in San Francisco] that I can’t be grateful enough to be in Singapore.”
Heather told MS News that she’s married to a Singaporean husband, and they decided to move back to Singapore as she couldn’t imagine staying in the US and having a family there.
In a second video, she shared more about her husband’s work visa circumstances, which also prompted the move. “I was honestly ready to get out of the US. I thought it would be fun to have a completely new start and try something new,” she related.
Looking at the future, she said Singapore is a great place for its safety, educational opportunities, and convenience.
Singapore’s proximity to other overseas holiday destinations is a plus as well.
Also Read: Japanese YouTuber Lists 15 Reasons Why He Appreciates S’pore, Such As Cincai-ness & Safety
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Featured image adapted from TikTok.
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