Bedok South residents advised to use incense burners after 'mess' seen 'flying around': Town council

East Coast Town Council has advised residents to use incense burners during prayers after praying papers were seen flying around at Bedok South Road near Block 41.

A Stomper saw the mess on the ground on Thursday (Sep 17) at 11.15am and told Stomp about the incident.

He also sent some photos of what he saw.

In the photos, praying papers can be seen all over the grass and surrounding areas.

"After the festival on Sep 16, all I saw was this mess," the Stomper said.

"I do not think the offerings were being burnt inside the allocated bins.

"It is really a huge mess of papers. Some papers even flew to the other side of the road!"

The Stomper added that this was the first time he saw such a huge mess on the ground.

"I respect the festival and the tradition but there are allocated bins to burn the praying papers," the Stomper shared.

"We cannot pollute the entire place. It will be so tough to clean and pick each of these papers from grass.

"People should be fined for littering in the future."

In response to a Stomp query, a spokesman for East Coast Town Council said: "The residents have been advised to use the incense burners provided by the town council for their necessary usage during their prayers.

"We have also circulated an advisory by the religious federations in order to promote responsible joss paper burning.

"Henceforth, the town council will also continue to educate the residents to practice responsible joss paper burning activities."

In a separate incident, Ang Mo Kio Town Council also reminded residents to use the burner bins provided after some were seen burning offerings in a carpark.

In early September, Sembawang Town Council reminded residents to burn offerings responsibly as well.