Bed bugs crawl out of AMK flat; residents stock up on insecticide
Residents were plagued by bed bugs constantly coming from a neighbour's unit whose occupant has been hospitalised for weeks.
The incident happened at Block 420 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, a block of rental flats.
Mr Zhang, 40, told Shin Min Daily News that the infestation of bed bugs crawled along the corridor on April 13. Many of them entered his flat and crawled on the walls, sofa and bed.
"I checked and found that the bed bugs were pouring out of a neighbour's unit on the same floor," he said.
"The bed bugs even entered the next-door units and the facing flat."
The man living in the unit was reportedly hospitalised after a fall and hasn't been home since then.
When a Shin Min reporter visited the block, there were many dead bed bugs in front of the door of the unit, and water stains on the corridor.
At least seven neighbouring units were affected by the infestation.
The bed bugs entered the homes of neighbours through door seams and windows. PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
Madam Jie Ya, 58, who lives opposite the unit, told the Chinese daily that the largest number of bed bugs she had seen at home on one occasion was about 50 of them, and some were laying eggs on her furniture.
"The bed bugs crawled onto the bed and bit me. I couldn't sleep for a few days and I had to take days off."
She admitted that she poured water on the corridor to prevent bed bugs from crawling into her house, and she also stuffed towels in the door seams to block their passage, but her efforts were in vain.
Madam Artie, 50, who lives below the unit, revealed that her skin felt itchy some time ago, and she later found many bed bugs in her home.
She believed that they crawled into the house through the window.
Mr Zhang shared that bed bugs require a specific insecticide: "The usual ones don't work on them. After my family discovered that, we bought our neighbours insecticide for bed bugs."
Madam Jiang Huiqing, 78, who lives next to the unit, said she spent a few hundred dollars on insecticides.
Another neighbour, Madam Zhou Yufeng, 69, bought five cans and finished four cans in three days: "We sprayed all the areas, including the corridor and lift."
Madam Jiang said that the authorities fumigated the affected areas two weeks ago and cleaned the man's unit last week after obtaining his permission.
She noted that the situation improved after the fumigation and many rounds of cleaning.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AsiaOne
a day ago
- AsiaOne
China's Sichuan province to offer extended marriage and maternity leave, China News
HONG KONG — Health authorities in China's southwestern Sichuan province are proposing to extend marriage leave up to 25 days and maternity leave up to 150 days, to help create a "fertility-friendly society" which boosts the country's population. The move comes as China's government struggles to boost birth rates in the world's second-largest economy. China's population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024 and experts have cautioned the downturn will continue to worsen. Sichuan's Health Commission, which published the draft on its website, is seeking public opinion and comments from May 30 to June 30. Sichuan province has a population of 84 million, more than most countries including Germany and the United Kingdom. The proposal would extend marriage leave by 400 per cent from the five days currently given and more than double the existing 60-day maternity leave period. Sichuan also plans to extend paternity leave to 30 days from 20 days to "facilitate the care of men for their wives after childbirth and help advocate that couples share the responsibility of raising children," authorities said. The province has emerged as one of the more progressive in China. It has allowed unmarried women to access IVF treatment and in 2023 authorities there announced that unmarried individuals would be eligible for benefits reserved for married couples. China's birth rates have been falling for decades as a result of the one-child policy China implemented from 1980 to 2015 as well as rapid urbanisation. The high cost of childcare and education as well as job uncertainty and a slowing economy have also discouraged many young Chinese from getting married and starting a family. Authorities rolled out a series of "fertility friendly" measures in 2024 to minimise the challenge of having roughly 300 million Chinese expected to enter retirement in the coming decade — the equivalent of almost the entire US population. Measures include urging China's colleges and universities to provide "love education" to emphasise positive views on marriage, love, fertility and family. In November, China's State Council, or cabinet, rallied local governments to direct resources towards fixing China's population crisis and spread respect for childbearing and marriages "at the right age". More than 2.6 million couples filed for divorce last year, the data showed, up 1.1 per cent from 2.59 million in 2023. [[nid:714474]]
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
China's Sichuan province to offer extended marriage and maternity leave
HONG KONG - Health authorities in China's southwestern Sichuan province are proposing to extend marriage leave up to 25 days and maternity leave up to 150 days, to help create a "fertility-friendly society" which boosts the country's population. The move comes as China's government struggles to boost birth rates in the world's second-largest economy. China's population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024 and experts have cautioned the downturn will continue to worsen. Sichuan's Health Commission, which published the draft on its website, is seeking public opinion and comments from May 30 to June 30. Sichuan province has a population of 84 million, more than most countries including Germany and the United Kingdom. The proposal would extend marriage leave by 400% from the five days currently given and more than double the existing 60-day maternity leave period. Sichuan also plans to extend paternity leave to 30 days from 20 days to "facilitate the care of men for their wives after childbirth and help advocate that couples share the responsibility of raising children," authorities said. The province has emerged as one of the more progressive in China. It has allowed unmarried women to access IVF treatment and in 2023 authorities there announced that unmarried individuals would be eligible for benefits reserved for married couples. China's birth rates have been falling for decades as a result of the one-child policy China implemented from 1980 to 2015 as well as rapid urbanisation. The high cost of childcare and education as well as job uncertainty and a slowing economy have also discouraged many young Chinese from getting married and starting a family. Authorities rolled out a series of "fertility friendly" measures in 2024 to minimise the challenge of having roughly 300 million Chinese expected to enter retirement in the coming decade - the equivalent of almost the entire U.S. population. Measures include urging China's colleges and universities to provide "love education" to emphasize positive views on marriage, love, fertility and family. In November, China's State Council, or cabinet, rallied local governments to direct resources towards fixing China's population crisis and spread respect for childbearing and marriages "at the right age." More than 2.6 million couples filed for divorce last year, the data showed, up 1.1% from 2.59 million in 2023. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Straits Times
Singapore operator of China's first foreign-owned hospital seeks more medical tourists
Perennial Holdings' US$139 million hospital opened earlier in 2025 in Tianjin, and is the first fully foreign-owned medical facility in mainland China. PERENNIAL HOLDINGS PTE LTD BEIJING – A Singapore hospital operator wants more international patients to seek treatment at its new medical centre in China, as foreign healthcare providers eye medical tourism as a new growth area in the world's second-largest economy. Perennial Holdings' US$139 million (S$179 million) hospital opened earlier in 2025 in the northern city of Tianjin, and is the first fully foreign-owned medical facility in the mainland. The hospital aims to derive 30 per cent of its revenue during its first year of operation from patients visiting from Russia to the Middle East and South-east Asia – hoping China will become an emerging destination for medical tourism that can compete with established regional rivals Singapore, Thailand and Japan. Perennial's focus on luring overseas patients to Tianjin came after China in 2024 moved to allow private hospitals to be fully owned by foreign entities, which had previously needed a Chinese business partner. China's health regulator has since encouraged the Tianjin facility to differentiate itself from the country's public hospitals, hospital president Daniel Liu said in an interview this week. 'Medical tourism has yet to become an industry in China, but it's showing promise. We hope to make the pie bigger,' he said. 'Some specialities in the Chinese healthcare system have grown in the past two decades, to a point that measures up to international standards.' Private healthcare providers have faced headwinds operating in China as the country's post-Covid economic slump weighed on their main clientele – expats and well-off domestic customers with commercial insurance coverage. Some private hospitals and clinics have closed shop in recent months, while others have had to lower their prices, according to local media. China can be appealing to medical tourists in part due to a speedier diagnosis and treatment process that can get slowed down by rigid referral systems and a lack of resources in other countries. Still, luring global patients to China for treatment – especially when it comes to entering the country – still faces hurdles. China doesn't currently have a visa option for medical tourism, and the visa-free programme it's rolled out to more than 40 countries sometimes only grants stays of under a month – too short for some patients needing to undergo surgery and subsequent recovery. Earlier in 2025, hospital chiefs and medical experts proposed creating a new visa for medical tourism at China's annual parliamentary session. The move to expand medical tourism also dovetails with Beijing's goal to encourage more inbound travel. Some northeast China hospitals are already frequented by patients from neighbouring Russia, while southern provinces are welcoming patients from South-east Asia as access to Chinese medical care becomes part of the government's tourism push, state agency Xinhua reported. Perennial's Tianjin hospital is even hoping to bring in patients from as far as the UK, where private care is pricey and long waiting lists for the National Health Service have delayed treatments and even diagnoses of certain conditions. To meet future demand from international clients, Perennial is working to recruit medical stuff from Singapore and finalize global medical insurance coverage, Mr Liu said. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
