There are always little hints about a place that tell you there are more differences between cultures than necessarily meet the eye. I am constantly intrigued by these, especially where we try and put our fingers on the subtleties of difference between ourselves and New Zealanders, Americans, Brits and Canadians. The obvious comparisons I guess. But some of the cultural differences with our neighbours have an air of similarity but at first glance mask major differences.This sticker struck me as a good example of those. At first glance the instructions here to a Singapore driver seem straight forward. But I was then bemused by the explicitness of the requirement to take 6 photos. Not 2. not 10. But 6. Not “at least” 6. I strongly suspect that such an instruction would not carry any weight to most Australian drivers. Take some photos sure. But an instruction like this is just as likely to invite 2 photos or 20 photos as an interpretation of compliance. Singapore citizens will take precisely 6 – you can be sure of that.
And of course it is reasonable to assume everyone in Singapore has a camera on them? Actually it probably is, at least via their cell phones. I am not so sure you could guarantee a camera will be around in an Australian car accident.
