Your health and safety should always be your primary concern whenever traveling abroad.
Thousands of Singaporeans safely travel abroad each year, however it is important to always remain cautious and vigilant while in unfamiliar surroundings. Below are some tips to encourage safety while abroad.
Safety on the Street
All students should use the same common sense traveling overseas that they would at home, and they should be especially cautious in or avoid areas where they are likely to be victimized. These include crowded subways, train stations, elevators, tourist sites, market places, festivals, and marginal areas of cities.
Specifically, travelers should be warned:
- Do not travel alone, especially at night.
- Do not use shortcuts, narrow alleys, or poorly lit streets.
- Avoid public demonstrations and other civil disturbances.
- Keep a low profile and avoid loud conversations or arguments. Do not discuss travel plans or other personal matters with strangers.
- Avoid scam artists. Beware of strangers who approach offering bargains or to be a guide.
- Beware of pickpockets. They often have an accomplice who will jostle, ask for directions or the time, point to something spilled on clothing, or create a disturbance to distract the travelers. A child or even a woman carrying a baby can be a pickpocket. Beware of groups of vagrant children who create a distraction while picking pockets.
- Wear the shoulder strap of a bag across the chest and walk with the bag away from the curb to avoid drive-by purse snatchers.
- Try to seem purposeful when moving about. Even if lost, the traveler should act as if they know where they are going. When possible, ask directions only from individuals in authority.
- Know how to use a pay telephone and have the proper change or token on hand.
- Learn a few phrases in the local language to signal a need for help, the police, or a doctor. Make note of emergency telephone numbers they may be needed: police, fire, your hotel, and the nearest Singaporean embassy or consulate.
- If confronted, do not fight back. Travelers. should give up their valuables, as their money and passport can be replaced, but they cannot.
- Carry the hotel name, address, and telephone number in the local language and in English.
Safety in the Hotels
- Keep hotel doors locked at all times. Meet visitors only in the lobby.
- Do not leave money and other valuables in the hotel room while out. Use the hotel safe.
- Let someone know when to expect your return.
- If out late at night alone, do not get on an elevator if there is a suspicious-looking person inside.
- Read the fire safety instructions in the hotel room. Know how to report a fire. Know where the nearest fire exit and alternate exits are located. Count the doors between the room and the nearest exit. This could be a lifesaver if required to crawl through a smoke-filled corridor.
Safety on Public Transportation
- Only take taxis clearly identified with official markings. Beware of unmarked cabs. Ask for, and where appropriate, negotiate the fare before entering cab.
- If the way is being blocked by a stranger and another person is very close behind, move away. This can happen in the corridor of a train or on the platform or station.
- Do not accept food or drink from strangers. Criminals have been known to drug food or drink offered to passengers.
- Do not be afraid to alert authorities if feeling threatened in any way. Extra police are often assigned to ride trains on routes where crime is a serious problem.
How to Handle Money Safely
- Change travelers' checks only as currency is needed to avoid carrying large amounts of cash. Countersign travelers' checks only in front of the person who will cash them.
- Do not flash large amounts of money when paying a bill.
- Make sure credit cards are returned after each transaction.
- Deal only with authorized agents when exchanging money. Do not change money on the black market.
- Be careful when using an ATM machine. Keep the 4-digit code secure.
- If possessions are lost or stolen, report the loss immediately to the local police. Keep a copy of the police report for insurance claims and as an explanation of the situation. After reporting missing items to the police, report the loss or theft of:
- travelers' checks to the nearest agent of the issuing company;
- credit cards to the issuing company;
- airline tickets to the airline or travel agents.
Traffic and Vehicles
- Traffic
Be aware of traffic patterns. It is easy to become confused in countries where drivers use the opposite side of the side. Consequences for drinking and driving are very severe in most countries abroad.
- Vehicles
Be sure that any equipment they rent or use (bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, cars) is operationally safe. If the faculty director or any member of the group plans to rent a car anywhere, inquire about driving regulations, learn traffic signals, and make sure they can legally drive in the country.
- Swimming
Swimming carries a high level of risk unless you are in a well-chlorinated pool. However, even pools can be a health hazard. Of special concern if the risk of disease from contaminated lakes and rivers that can cause a variety of skin, eye, ear, and intestinal infections. Ocean swimming is usually the cleanest, but it is always good practice to check with the local authorities before venturing into unknown bodies of water. Tides and undertows can be deadly to the uninformed swimmer. Beaches and coastlines that are marked with the international code for "no swimming allowed" are to be avoided.
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