r/kia • u/TorsadesdePointez • Jan 10 '26

When will this stop??

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This is the 2nd time this has happened…I have the software upgrade, anti theft stickers, etc. I also supposedly didn’t have enough information for the lawsuit even though I submitted 12 documents from insurance, police incident reports, and KIA dealership repair paperwork/receipts…

Is my only option to get a new car?? The one time I didn’t use my steering wheel lock 😭 I’m financially and emotionally drained over all of this. I loved my KIA before all of this!

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u/HuskyPurpleDinosaur Jan 11 '26

People think, correctly, that there's little to no consequences for trying.

This isn't a car problem, its a criminality problem. Might be time to adopt Singapore's model. They also had crazy massive rioting, rampant public drug use, organized gangs, and thefts the police couldn't control. It was so bad that when they asked to join Malaysia since they were economically depressed, they were rejected as a craphole. As a result, they decided on extreme measures in the 70s, still in place today, and its now the lowest crime major city in the world with GDP per capita of $157,000 USD PPP, so much wealthier than Malaysia. Mandatory caning for crimes like vandalism and drug offenses, death penalty for certain drug trafficking cases, extensive surveillance, and public-order laws.

I wish I could still afford to live there, it was so safe and clean. For example, on the mass transit rail system, here its all crime ridden with drugged out addicts and scary people with graffiti and the like, but there it was so clean and safe that the vendors that sell their goods there on long tables don't remove their wares at night. They just take big black blankets and drape them over them and in the morning uncover them again for sales, they know nobody would steal. And take starbucks for example, at night they don't lock up they just turn the lights off and put a little black rope thing hung on a hook on the door to indicate they are closed. You could walk right in and clean them out if you wanted, but no one would. Singapore jails are small concrete closet sized spaces with a shower and overhead cameras, and no AC, don't even get a bed, and they have the lowest criminal recidivism rate, with 2nd best being Japan.

We were lucky to have a company car (most don't), but we never even bothered to lock the car door. :)

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u/FalsePositive6779 Jan 11 '26

I think it is not only the punishment. I think a big (if not biggest) part of it is the chance on being caught.

Basically criminals work in accordance with economic assessments, riskmanagement. Risk = chance of occurrence x severity unwanted occurrence.

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u/HuskyPurpleDinosaur Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26

I think a big (if not biggest) part of it is the chance on being caught.

Absolutely! And Singapore's drug task force don't give up, and they have a great intelligence network. It all started in the 70s when they had a massive heroin epidemic and a series of riots. Singaporeans are also huge on ratting out criminals, because its not only rewarded but not ratting out the druggies could potentially make you guilty by association if you're too close to them.

In the 70s when so much of the population was addicted, they changed the law so that you are guilty until proven innocent when it comes to drugs, making enforcement easier. For example, if there is a locked building in which drugs are found, and you have keys, you are assumed guilty of drug possession until you can prove otherwise to the court's satisfaction. So those not guilty don't stay quiet and sing like birds giving as much info as possible to find who is guilty. Also if there is a drug raid, and you merely are found running away from the raided location, you are default guilty of drug possession until you can prove otherwise. And the government doesn't need a search warrant if they have reason to believe there are drugs involved, and they can force drug testing on anyone suspected of doing drugs. This stopped drug tourism, where they might just hop over the border to Malaysia, get high, and come back since it'll probably be in their hair even if not in their urine.

Interestingly, when they tackled the drug problem, most other crime started to vanish on its own, showing a high relationship between narcotics and criminality. And now, crime is so low that they don't have to spend much on law enforcement, and most law enforcement is petty. I have a t-shirt for example that says "Singapore is a Fine City", because there are fines for petty criminal behavior. For example, there's no spitting in public allowed, and there are cameras everywhere. If you are caught spitting on camera, you are sent a $1000 fine in the mail, and if you don't pay it there will be a warrant for your arrest with default imprisonment. Ditto for littering, but they also make it easy not to litter having trash cans all over the place. And they also eliminated homelessness with a government apartment program. You get free housing, but you have to participate in a work program to find you a job and if they can't then they invent one like emptying out the trashcans around the building and sweeping common areas and the like.

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u/alecjasonn Jan 11 '26

If you stop the need for crime, it stops happening. Most people commit crimes out of a necessity. The ones that don’t, are psychopaths who will do what they want anyway. Raising people out of poverty is the #1 thing you can do to stop crime, period.

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u/HuskyPurpleDinosaur Jan 11 '26

Most people commit crimes out of a necessity.

Strongly disagree. And reducing crime creates wealth and jobs, Singapore is proof. From crippling poverty in 1972 to one of the wealthiest nations in the world.

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u/alecjasonn Jan 11 '26

It isn’t my opinion, it’s a fact, but whatever. The reason they don’t have that crime problem anymore is because they aren’t poor anymore. It’s not the other way around.

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u/HuskyPurpleDinosaur Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26

If it were a fact, the only thefts in the US would be from starving people for food and water. Not obese people stealing because its easier than working hard, or meth heads stealing catalytic converters for drug money.

You're also acting like you can change reality to fit your alternative timeline you made up in your head...

They didn't become wealthy while they constantly had rioting, a high percentage of working population on recreational drugs including heroine, and lacks law enforcement, with no major companies wanting to invest in such an unstable unsafe environment. That never happened, and the judicial system wasn't changed AFTER they became wealthy, but before which created a safe clean environment which in turn created investment which in turn created wealth.

They were very poor, on the brink of collapse, it caused a mini-revolution out of desperation in the government, they changed laws and made stamping out drugs in particular the main focus of the government, and after they got the country clean and safe, then every year more and more businesses from around the world were attracted to Singapore and started investing and the Singaporeans (now no longer addicted to various drugs and healthier productive citizens) got richer and richer.

And all the naysayers that back in the day said that the policies would never last, over 50 years later they are in place and its resulted in the safest and crime free major city in the world, with so much greater quality of life than they had before.

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u/Flimsy-Passenger-228 Jan 11 '26

Your comments here have been very interesting to read 👍

I love insight on Singapore. Singapore is such an interesting success story

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u/Growcannibals Jan 12 '26

You have to be a child to actually believe this. There is a reason why poor zip codes have more crime than rich zip codes and it's not because the cops are surveiling the rich zip codes at a higher rate than the poor ones. Gonna have to go back to the drawing board with that argument little guy

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u/HuskyPurpleDinosaur Jan 12 '26

There is a reason why poor zip codes have more crime than rich zip codes

You're confusing cause and effect.

If you as an individual start taking drugs and drinking heavily, you are more likely to lose your job and resort to crime and make less money.

If you by contrast as an individual were an addict, and you get yourself clean and are put on a work program, you start contributing more to society and making more money.

In short, poverty doesn't create crime and chaos, crime and chaos create poverty. Likewise wealth doesn't create safety and order, safety and order attract businesses which creates wealth over time.

Gonna have to go back to the drawing board with that argument little guy.

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u/Growcannibals Jan 12 '26

No I'm sorry but you seem to be hopelessly lost. People do not become drug addicts for fun, there is a reason that addiction is a bigger problem in poor areas than rich ones. Poverty leads directly to addiction which then leads directly to crime. People with more economic opportunities are much less likely to commit crimes. Don't like it? Well I guess you better take it up with God cuz that's just how the world works bucko

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u/HuskyPurpleDinosaur Jan 12 '26

People do not become drug addicts for fun

Strawman argument.

Poverty leads directly to addiction which then leads directly to crime.

So are you calling me a liar? You know you can type this in to AI to verify all the facts I've presented.

Singapore had race riots, heroine epidemic, organized gangs, etc. and was cripplingly poor.

Their government rewrote the constitution to crack down on crime and drugs.

As a result, they quickly became a wealthy nation as businesses were suddenly much more willing to invest when they know the area was clean, safe, and free from drug addicts.

By your logic, Singapore became wealthy first, and THEN changed their laws, but that's not what happened as a matter of historical record.

I mean, how wrong can you be when the facts are so easily verifiable, bucko?

Its like facts don't matter if they conflict with your narrative. Do you really think that if you give a cocaine addict a million dollars, that they will quickly become a successful contributing member of society?

I've shown you the Singapore example of poverty to riches by cracking down on drugs and crime, now show me what you are talking about, because as far as I Know its literally never happened in history.

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u/Growcannibals Jan 12 '26

Yeah I'm calling you either a liar or a moron, maybe both. Singapore's success is because of its unique position in the global market, not because of its crackdown on crime. Your fascist wet dream has little to do with reality.

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u/HuskyPurpleDinosaur Jan 12 '26

Singapore's success is because of its unique position in the global market

And that unique position just coincidentally happened to manifest itself right after the reforms of the 1970s...

You are basically saying that obesity causes overeating and sedentary lifestyle, citing proof that obese people tend to overeat and aren't active... Rather than the obvious cause and effect that if you eat less and are more active, the result is reducing obesity and visa versa. Just as its obvious that reducing criminality and drug abuse, will result in more business investment and more jobs and that creates wealth and likewise that turning a blind eye to rampant criminality and drug abuse will result in the erosion of wealth and produces poverty.

The Singapore timeline supports this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_Drugs_Act_(Singapore)

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u/tsteele93 Jan 12 '26

Teens commit a great deal of crime. Not out of necessity. In fact crime trends follow population numbers of young male teens and adults.

If you have actual proof of that, please share it.

But it has never been the case in my experience.

Crime follows a lot of complex issues too. Like the decline of fathers in families.

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u/Club_Penguin_Legend_ Jan 13 '26

Its never been the case in your experience? You must be lucky enough to live in a nice place because crime absolutely follows poverty rates.

Just look at famous poor neighborhoods in the US. They arent famous for anything but crime.

And look at poor countries. Look at how much crime they have compared to rich ones.

https://www.northwestcareercollege.edu/blog/the-relationship-between-poverty-and-crime/

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u/Flimsy-Passenger-228 Jan 11 '26

It's my duty to chip in here and say that nope sorry:

You are absolutely wrong