Rats at Beauty World food centre: Customers complain of dirty conditions, hawkers defend pest control efforts

SINGAPORE: Recent rat sightings at Beauty World Food Centre have raised concerns among both customers and hawkers, who said more needs to be done to improve sanitation standards. 

While stallholders have taken additional steps to ensure their stalls remain clean, many complained that the premises of the food centre remain dirty, with rubbish often scattered on the floor, and food spills attracting rats, pigeons and cockroaches. 

When CNA visited the hawker centre around 4pm on Monday (Feb 3), a rat was spotted scurrying up and down the pipes near the ceiling, and about 10 pigeons were hopping from one table to another eating food scraps. 

Multiple stallholders lamented about the hawker centre’s dirty conditions, despite them engaging monthly pest control services to keep their stalls clean. 

Mr Lim, the owner of a Western food stall, said that multiple stalls share the cost of pest control services to clean and inspect their stalls. They pay about S$30 (US$22) monthly “out of their own pockets”.

“Cockroaches used to be quite prominent, so it’s very important that we do this,” the 61-year-old said, adding that customers have complained about seeing rats although he has not seen any himself. 

Mr Lim, who runs the stall with his wife, said that they always used gloves when handling food, and ensured the metal tabletops in their stall are neat and clean. 

After the reports of rat infestation, crowds at the food centre have reduced considerably. Mr Lim said he had fewer customers for lunch on Monday, serving only around 20 customers at 4pm.

Similarly, Mr Terry Ng, owner of drinks stall Kopifellas, said he hires pest control services for S$80 a month for his own stall, and agrees not enough is being done to keep the hawker centre clean.

“The area outside is not within our control, but we need to make sure our stalls are clean,” Mr Ng said. 

The open-air hawker centre on the fourth storey of Beauty World Centre also attracts many pigeons who often defecate near the tray-return stations. 

The owner of a stall that faces one of these stations angrily said he had made multiple complaints about pigeon droppings, but nobody had come to rectify the matter. 

“People come here to eat but it’s so dirty and there is bird poop everywhere,” the owner, who did not want to be named, told CNA.

He also pointed out that there were holes in the ceilings where rats often run into. 

Mr Ng, who works as a hawker at a Japanese food stall, said more customers complained about rat sightings during the monsoon season in November. 

“We’re mostly busy in the stalls, so we don’t see them. But customers will tell us about it,” he said, adding that he too served fewer customers today. 

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement released on Feb 1 that they have conducted a joint inspection at the food centre. 

Preliminary investigations found signs of rats at the ceiling and the common area of Beauty World Food Centre.

Although it has yet to be revealed if rat infestation has been detected, the building management and managing agent of the food centre have been advised to enhance their pest control measures based on the findings, SFA and NEA said. 

“Stallholders have been reminded to ensure food is kept in rat-proof containers, properly bag their refuse before disposal and to keep their stalls clean of food scraps so as to prevent easy access to food by the rats,” the statement said.

“STILL ACCEPTABLE” 

Ms Elaine Ng was just about to dig into a bowl of noodles when she saw a rat run across a metal pipe multiple times, before going into hiding. 

She patronises the hawker centre once every three to four months, and finds it “still acceptable” despite the rubbish on the ground and the rodent she just witnessed. 

“It’s not dirty to a point that it’s off-putting, and I’ll still come back unless I see a group of them,” the 33-year-old said. 

“I’ll be more wary if I see rats in the stalls itself, running on the food.” 

While other customers drinking coffee or having an early dinner did agree that sanitation standards could improve, they seemed unfazed by the rodent sightings and said they would continue to patronise their go-to stalls. 

Similar to Ms Ng, Mdm Alice continues to visit the hawker centre twice a week despite being unhappy with the sanitary conditions. 

Just a few months ago, she spotted a rat crawling from one stall signage to another. 

“I’ve been coming here for more than 30 years, some sides are clean, but some can be very dirty and there’s often litter on the floor,” she said.