Monkey business at Punggol Settlement: Nuisance to restaurants, amusement to patrons

SINGAPORE – A troop of monkeys has been frequenting The Punggol Settlement in north-eastern Singapore, causing damage to some businesses but also drawing customers.

House of Seafood chief executive Francis Ng, 50, said that up to 60 monkeys would gather outside the ground floor restaurant every other day from about 3pm to 6pm. When not climbing trees, they would sit on the fence and on a huge orange-red replica of a crab.

Mr Ng said the monkeys have stolen cutlery, small plates, tablecloths and plastic food replicas. More painfully, they have made about six holes the size of a 50-cent coin so far in the restaurant’s three-month-old retractable awning that cost about $20,000.

Punggol Seafood managing director Fabian Lim, 38, said the monkeys also damaged a portable tent that provided shelter for his customers and made a nuisance of themselves by pilfering wet tissues from unattended table settings.

He, too, usually sees them during the 3pm-6pm period, but he heard from the cleaners that the monkeys come by in the morning about three or four times weekly.

Mr Ng said that when House of Seafood opened in The Punggol Settlement in 2013, he used to see about three or four monkeys in the park near the waterfront every two to three months.

He has spotted more outside his restaurant in the past five years.

In photos and videos Mr Ng took on Wednesday at around 1.30pm, some monkeys are seen on the footpath in New Punggol Road, which is a stone’s throw from The Punggol Settlement.

In another photo taken in Northshore Drive, seven monkeys were spotted on the road.

But Mr Lim stressed that the monkeys have not been aggressive and do not disturb customers, an observation agreed by House of Seafood’s Mr Ng, as well as two other business owners The Straits Times spoke to.

Mr Ryan Lee, group director of wildlife management at National Parks Board (NParks), said the monkeys are long-tailed macaques, likely from the Coney Island Park and forest patches in the area.

The forest fringe creatures move between forest patches in search of food and territory, he said.

Ms Anbarasi Boopal, the co-chief executive of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), said there has been extensive clearing of vegetation in Punggol for housing.

“With the loss of habitats and connectivity, there is a high likelihood for their (relatively large) troop to disperse and find new pockets of habitats. It may not mean an increase in population, but an increase in visibility,” she said.

Businesses at The Punggol Settlement have had to adapt their operations to make sure that the monkeys do not steal food from their premises.

For example, staff of House of Seafood and Punggol Seafood quickly clear the tables outdoors once the customers leave so that monkeys do not get attracted by leftover food.  

Staff at Relax Bar on the second floor do not leave their rubbish bins in the open to prevent the primates from rummaging through them for food, said its manager, who gave his name only as Edison.

Mr Lee said that as native fruit-bearing trees are natural sources of food for the macaques, NParks has carried out habitat enhancement efforts at Coney Island Park by planting more native fruiting species.

“We strongly urge members of the public not to feed macaques as it alters their natural foraging behaviour and habituates them to human presence and relying on humans for an easy source of food,” said Mr Lee.

He added that in areas where macaque encounters often occur, mitigation measures used include ensuring proper waste disposal, harvesting fruit trees and installing monkey-proof fittings.

Long-term population measures, such as sterilisation, are being carefully studied and will be implemented where suitable.

Ms Boopal added that once the macaques learn that food access is not easy, they will instead spend time foraging in the nature. 

Though the primates have caused damage to businesses at The Punggol Settlement, they have become mini-attractions to some eateries there.

Punggol Seafood’s Mr Lim and Mr Vijay Nadarajan, 27, second-floor bar and restaurant Georges By The Bay’s captain, said some of their customers also take photographs and videos if they spot monkeys.

Mr Nadarajan said that about 20 monkeys appear on the trees about twice or thrice weekly. They usually arrive at about 4.30pm to 5pm, and leave by about 7pm or 7.30pm. 

Added House of Seafood’s Mr Ng: “Especially during the weekends, some diners, including families with children, visit the restaurant to observe and take photographs and videos of the monkeys.”

Some diners prefer the outdoor seating for the sea breeze and to observe the monkeys on trees, he said. “We respect animals, and we do not disturb them or harm them. The monkeys are harmless. We can coexist with them.”