'Which coffee shop has no rats?' Geylang stallholders respond to rodent sighting, say premises are 'very clean'
While walking past a coffee shop in Geylang, a passer-by was horrified to spot a large rat nosing around one of the food stalls.
Taking to Facebook group Complaint Singapore on Saturday (May 11) morning, user Marilyn Crow shared a video of the rodent scurrying around a stall front and jumping onto a stack of trays.
The clip then pans to show a signboard of coffee shop chain Food Loft.
A Shin Min Daily News reporter who visited the coffee shop that night found that the food stalls had been cleaned and there were no rodents in sight.
The cai fan stallholder, surnamed Huang, explained that stallholders will discard any remaining food and clean the stalls during closing to prevent attracting rodents.
On the day that the rat appeared, however, Huang had forgotten to discard the plastic bag which leftover food was thrown in.
"I will be more mindful in future. The trays have also been cleaned," he said.
Huang told Shin Min that their boss was aware of the video and had urged them to pay extra attention to food hygiene and stall cleanliness.
"Frankly speaking, it's impossible for coffee shops to have no rats," he added.
"We've already made the area very clean and have also seen rats running above [on the beams] and not just at our stall. They will appear after we close and turn off the lights, but won't show up if there are people around."
As of Saturday, Huang said no customers have complained about the cleanliness of the coffee shop, and business has not been affected.
Other stallholders whom Shin Min spoke to said that rat culling is done several times a month at the coffee shop.
An employee at the Western food stall, surnamed He, said hygiene is his priority and he has never spotted rodents at his stall.
"The coffee shop conducts pest control and rat culling exercises two or three times a month. The workers will spray pesticide and I've never seen a dead rodent," he said.
On the other hand, another stallholder, who declined to be named, claimed he had seen a rodent scampering across the beams of the coffee shop.
"Which coffee shop has no rats? Everyone will clean the stalls during closing and the owners will periodically remind us not to leave food behind."
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lim.kewei@asiaone.com
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