Q: How worried should the general public be about this rat infestation?
Assoc Prof Richard J Sugrue, Head of the Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, NTU:
"Being near a MRT station may increase the risk of the spread of infectious agents, since there is a risk that rats can enter the MRT system. This could potentially allow the flow of infected material (e.g. aerosols from infected rat urine) through the MRT underground tunnels, which could have consequences for people living outside the immediate area."
What he should have said: "After shooting the mayor, you guys should shoot the CEO of SMRT. The health and safety of thousands of commuters are at stake! Some more want to increase fares!""
Q: The pest controllers identify the Bukit Batok rats as roof rats, not sewer rats. Is there a difference in terms of the damage these rats can inflict?
Senior Research Fellow Dr Ian Mendenhall and Research Assistant Erica Sena Neves, Laboratory of Virus Evolution, Emerging Infectious Diseases Program,Duke-NUS Medical School:
"Both species are highly adaptable and intelligent, and their propensity to dig and gnaw can cause direct and indirect structural damage to buildings and houses."
What they should have said: "Worried about falling windows even before the 99 year lease is up? The whole bloody flat can collapse before you know it!"
Q: Is it fair to blame the feeders of stray dogs for the proliferation of the rats?
Dr Mendenhall and Ms Neves:
"In highly urbanised cities like Singapore, there are endless sources of food for the rats. "
What they should have said: "The poor, however, may still be struggling for 3 full meals a day, be it at a hawker center, food court or fancy restaurant."
Q: What should authorities and residents do to prevent this sort of rat infestation from happening again?
Dr Mendenhall and Ms Neves:
"It is frequently said that there are as many rats in cities as people, and undoubtedly we will never be able to completely eliminate these animals from urban environments."
What they should have said: "Just imagine the scenario. If Liu Thai Ker has his way, there will be 10 million rats scurrying around. And we don't just mean just foreign talents like the enterprising Yang Yin."
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The whole bloody place is falling apart and the PM has nothing better to do than to post on his facebook his defence of his father's shenanigans.Sigh.
ReplyDeleteHey pappies, pay us $100 for each rat we catch for you? Can? Some rats maybe as big as a man !! Thank you.
ReplyDelete//..to dig and gnaw…cause indirect damage to structural …//
ReplyDeleteWay I read it. Maybe there were the culprits who chewed up all those short circuited cables that we have been seen for the last few years!!
Someone ought to really do a rats census these day.
ReplyDeleteThere is saying that "You're never more than six feet away from a rat" and "For every cockroach you see, there are ten more you don't see." And the putative 1:1 rats to human ratio might be more true that we realize.
NYC with a 8m population have placed their rats colony to around 2m. So not hard to imagine 10m singaproe residents with 3m illegal rats lah…
Huat ah…welcome our new mosquitoes and welcome rats!
.. and tuberculosis !
DeleteWhat about those fat white mice dwelling in parliament? They have been chewing our taxpayers monies for decades and our msm were seen feeding them everyday.
ReplyDeleteThose are PIGS not mice.
DeleteEven mice and rats have standards you know.
3 Blind Mice, see how they run..........too busy running around........
ReplyDeletequeuing for chicken wings,
rapelling down HDB blocks and washing cars,
tussling with WP over clean hawker centre ceilings,
fixing WP over town council run fairs,
taking issues with heckling of special needs children,
smelling alcohol at riots,
coordinating grass-cutting and picking fishball sticks,
pilfering tooth picks,
......
Explosion in rat population reminds me of the population explosion in Sin leading to riots, congestion, higher costs, MRT breakdowns, etc. etc. etc. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” ??? "So we lacked that 20/20 foresight." - PM Lee. Rats can be exterminated, but people….?
For all the screwups that have had happened, did we notice anybody came up to say the buck stops with him/her.
ReplyDeleteWe don't ask for any resignation but just take responsibility instead of pushing the blame elsewhere, in this case the dog feeders
Singapore is a wonderful place for top public officers and civil servants. They are paid competitive private sector pay BUT without private sector accountability.
We pay THEM million dollar salaries.
DeleteTHEY outsource the responsibility to professional rat catchers.
Has anybody seen any proof that the caught rats have been killed?
How do we know that 140 rats have actually been caught and (more importantly) killed?
"These are real problems, we will tackle them. But I hope you will understand when these problems vex you or disturb you or upset your lives, please bear with us, we are trying our best on your behalf."
DeleteProblem is, after 10 years on the throne, he's still trying. That has to be the longest on the job training in the Guiness Book of Records.
The authorities( AVA, HDB , PAP TC) are saying the residents are to be blamed for causing the rats infestation.
ReplyDeleteThese residents left food for the strays dogs on the forested hills on the slope of BB MRT. They even produced a picture of a 10 kg dog food supposedly left behind by a dog feeder who have the superman strength to lug the load up a steep slope!
Even the the tough and rugged professional rat catchers need the assistance of ropes to climb up the slope unburdened.
What was not reported are the two food outlets just outside the MRT gates. These two food outlet run by sell spicy shandong food and chinese dumplings . Unfinished food were thrown all over the slope beneath the MRT tracks and these caused rats infestation there. Not stray dogs/cats feeders.
The authorities do not want to mention eating at mrt stations because they were the ones who brought in retail food outlets to the stations and they were the ones who brought in hordes of uncivic minded people.
If stray dogs are really the problem;
DeleteThen why haven't the PAP government send in the dog catchers to round up the strays?
Might as well get to the root of the problem right?
And if Singaporeans really want to get to the root of the problem;
Please vote Opposition.
It's time to get rid of an incompetent and impotent PAP government.
Of course, the won't. Those are paying top $ rent. Would they do the right thing by closing down eating outlets at MRT stations?
DeleteDog feeders however do not pay a cent so no harm pushing all the blame to them
"I can smell the alcohol"
ReplyDeleteLui.
Where the Tuck are Yew?
What can you smell this time?
rats?
dogs?
incompetence?
Desmond Lee
If you can't protect your MRT station from being raided by rats.
How are you going to protect our reserves from being raided by a rogue government?
Minister Of State Desmond Lee is a member of the Regime.
DeleteHe is part of the Government, and he is NOT even checking his OWN words or the Appropriation of his words.
patriot
Appropriation in my Above Comment to change to accuracy and correctness.
Deletepatriot
Off topic, but just saw this Ah Tiong peeing in public onto a wall just besides the Siglap Linear park in broad daylight.
ReplyDeleteSG50? The rats will be celebrating their SG196 (since 1819) Long live the rats of all kinds.
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