Elderly woman criticised for feeding pigeons at Bendemeer Market & Food Centre
An elderly woman has been criticised for allegedly feeding pigeons outside Bendemeer Market & Food Centre.
38-year-old Ms Zhou (surname transliterated from Chinese) told Shin Min Daily News (SMDN) that she saw the woman feeding bread to the birds last week.
Source: HKhee on Google Maps. For illustration purposes only.
Ms Zhou claimed she had approached the same woman a week ago, pointing out that it was unhygienic to do so. The elderly woman stopped after the confrontation.
Elderly woman claims food she scattered for pigeons isn’t hers
Last Thursday (16 Oct), however, Ms Zhou noticed the elderly woman scattering bread on the ground again.
Over a dozen pigeons flocked to the area, pecking at the food.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Ms Zhou told the elderly woman to stop once more, but the latter accused her of lacking a “sense of civic-mindedness”.
When SMDN spoke to the elderly woman, she claimed she had seen the pigeons eating a piece of bread on the hawker centre floor.
She then moved the bread outside the food centre out of consideration, and tore it into pieces for the pigeons.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
“I didn’t bring that piece of bread here. The pigeons will also go hungry,” said the elderly woman.
Hawkers report increasing presence of birds in food centre
Ms Zhou told SMDN that she was concerned about hygiene as the elderly woman was feeding birds near the tray return area.
“Many people come here to eat, and I want to ensure the dining area is clean.”
Hawkers at the food centre had also noticed several people feeding birds in the area.
Image by MS News
As a result, they claimed that pigeons would fly around in the hawker centre, dropping both feathers and poop.
Hawker association chairman received complaints about similar incidents
According to the chairman of the Bendemeer Market & Food Centre Association, many elderly people like to feed birds in the vicinity
He had previously received several complaints about the issue, though none for this particular elderly woman.
He also explained that the bird feeders do not intentionally try to dirty the environment, instead believing that they are doing a kind act.
The Association will report the cases to the relevant authorities once they receive complaints.
Also read: 59-year-old woman feeds pigeons in Bukit Merah despite multiple warnings, gets fined S$4.8K
59-year-old woman feeds pigeons in Bukit Merah despite multiple warnings, gets fined S$4.8K
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.
