Buying sim card in Singapore

[ansh_k]

I got a Singtel pre-paid sim card a few days back. I bought this sim from a roadside vendor near Mustafa. He did not take a photocopy of my passport. Yesterday, I accompanied one of my friends who bought a Singtel sim from another place. This guy asked for the Passport copy.
I was just wondering, is my sim illegal or soemthing, since that person did not ask for passport information. Could it land me in some sort of trouble. Should I throw that away and buy a new one.
I wanted to top up my card but will wait now.

Thank you

[jpatokal]

Your first SIM card is probably used... but as long as it works, who cares? It's the original owner, not you, who is in trouble if Mas Selemat rigs it up to a bomb and blows up the Merlion

[DimWit Kid]

Your SIM card must be a pre-used one. It may be registered under somebody else's name. Go to the provider's official shop (ie Singtel M1 or Starhub) and tell them the problem and they'll happily re-register that SIM I think.

Imho that's the safest thing to do.

[ansh_k]

Thanks a lot for replying

[sierra2469alpha]

Your first SIM card is probably used... but as long as it works, who cares? It's the original owner, not you, who is in trouble if Mas Selemat rigs it up to a bomb and blows up the Merlion

Hardly useful advice given the current environment, don't you think? Even with a razz, that's pretty irresponsible. Not to mention it shows a total lack of understanding of the laws here.

ansh_k - best just return it to whoever the provider is, explain the situation, ask them for a replacement. ENSURE they make a note on their system that you returned it to the provider. ENSURE you register your personal particulars with them, You don't want to be stuck with a SIM card that's registered to somebody else. Furthermore, it's actually illegal to purchase a SIM here in SIN as a foreigner without proper ID - something that other people around this forum should know. I'll probably get flamed big time for pointing this out to a moderator.

HTH, Mr. P

[jpatokal]

ansh_k - best just return it to whoever the provider is, explain the situation, ask them for a replacement. ENSURE they make a note on their system that you returned it to the provider. ENSURE you register your personal particulars with them, You don't want to be stuck with a SIM card that's registered to somebody else. Furthermore, it's actually illegal to purchase a SIM here in SIN as a foreigner without proper ID - something that other people around this forum should know. I'll probably get flamed big time for pointing this out to a moderator.

In theory, your advise is correct and this is absolutely what a good, upstanding citizen should do if they mistakenly purchase a second-hand SIM. You should definitely also go to the police, confess your crime and ask to get whacked with a rotan.

In practice, doing so would be just asking for trouble, expense or, at the very least, exposure to the turgid bureaucracy of the local operators. Given the world of pain that tends to ensue when you ask SingTel "can you sell me this phone for the price you're advertising", I can only imagine what would happen if you walk up and tell them that you want to re-register an illegally sold prepaid card...

So I'll stand by my suggestion: if you're here in Singapore for a few weeks, then just use the SIM and don't worry about it. And if you're here for a longer time... then throw away the prepaid and sign up for a legitimate, and much cheaper, postpaid account.