'I'm feeding the chickens': Bishan woman accused of feeding pigeons denies wrongdoing

New Paper

a day ago

An elderly woman scanned her surroundings before scattering a handful of rice grains on the grass.
When confronted by a passer-by, she allegedly got physical and hit the man.
"I'm feeding the chickens, not the birds!" she said.
According to Stomp, the woman has been feeding pigeons at Block 441 Sin Ming Avenue in Bishan daily.
On one occasion, while holding a bag full of rice, the woman who was confronted denied feeding the pigeons, claiming to be looking for their eggs instead.
"It's usually two to three times a day. Before 8am, some time between 11.30am to 1pm, and between 6.30pm to 7.30pm," said WY, who submitted a video of the incident to the citizen journalism site.
The video showed birds flocking towards her as she scattered feed from a plastic bag.
When Shin Min Daily News visited the site, the reporter noticed a number of pigeons and wild chickens roaming around.
A resident revealed that someone would feed the pigeons every evening, so they would all "gather on time" in the area.
At about 4pm, a woman with multiple bags of rice showed up and skillfully scattered them on the grass.
However, when she spotted the reporter, she immediately left.
When asked if she was aware that her actions were illegal, the woman claimed to be feeding the chickens, but the pigeons came in to "snatch their food".
"When the pigeons come, I will immediately chase them away," she explained.
"Those pigeons are really clever - they'll come when they see food."
The woman, who did not wish to reveal her name, said that the number of wild chickens in the estate had decreased sharply, and she felt bad for them.
"If I wanted to feed the birds, I would've used breadcrumbs. Do you see breadcrumbs on the floor?"
She also added that even without feeding, there were already a lot of pigeons in the estate.
A resident told the Chinese daily that he believed the woman had been attracting pigeons to the estate for nearly 10 years.
The woman would allegedly hurl insults at him in Cantonese whenever she saw him.
"Initially, I got angry. Why is she so unreasonable?"
"After a while, I stopped caring. Everyone in the neighbourhood knows her."
In response to claims that she had been berating residents, the woman said that it was because the neighbourhood misunderstood her for feeding pigeons for a long time, so she got angry.
Mr How Choon Beng, group director of wildlife management at the National Parks Board, told Shin Min Daily News that the NParks is aware of the issue and is continuing its efforts with the Bishan-Toa Payoh town council to monitor and manage the pigeon population.
He added that rock pigeons are not a native species, and they can cause environmental and hygiene issues.
Under the Wildlife Act, first-time offenders who feed wildlife can be fined up to $5,000 and up to $10,000 for repeat offenders.