Do you think Singaporeans are a friendly bunch?
A recent list published by London-based luxury travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller saw Singapore coming in first in a ‘The Friendliest Cities in the World’ list for 2024.
The results were decided by votes from readers, and placing second to tenth respectively were Sydney, Las Vegas, Bangkok, Cape Town, Tokyo, Marrakech, Hong Kong, Chicago, and New York.
Singapore received a high score of 94.84, and according to the site, “has always had a reputation for being exceptional”.
“The island city-state is famous for its financial powerhouses, pristine streets, unrivalled security standards, and now, diverse communities offering the crème de la crème of hospitality,” was how the magazine described Singapore.
However, many netizens are in disagreement with the ranking… including Singaporeans.
The list was later re-posted by a Facebook page SEA Infographics and many didn’t hesitate to share their genuine opinions.
“I couldn’t disagree more. I thought people in Singapore were extremely rude! On one occasion, I asked if I could pay by credit card and the person I was asking yelled CASH at me and threw a menu at me lol. That was one of many situations,” wrote a dissatisfied netizen.
A Singaporean netizen agreed that there was “something wrong with the rating”, adding that “we are not nasty people, but definitely not the friendliest”.
It seems like Singapore was not the only one to stir up controversy. A number of netizens also expressed surprise at how Hong Kong, Sydney, and a few US cities had made the list.
Others wondered why cities in Asian countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia failed to make the cut, with some unhappy netizens calling the results “biased” and “rigged”.
“How do you even determine how friendly a city is?” read a completely valid comment, considering that the metrics for the votes weren’t made public along with the results.
So do you think Singapore really isn’t a friendly place, or should we take a W as a W?
Photos: SEA Infographics/ Facebook, Unsplash/ Hu Chen