Patron boycotting Ang Mo Kio coffee shop after seeing rat at roast duck stall

A man has decided to stop visiting a coffee shop at Block 339 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 after spotting a rat lurking around.

Mr Pan, 42, told Shin Min Daily News that he saw the rat while dining at TG 339 Eating House last Thursday (Mar 16), at around 8pm.

He recounted: "I noticed a black shadow whizzing by the roast meat stall and realised it was a rat. I immediately picked up my phone to take a video."

He said the rodent was "very big" and quipped: "It feels like a Mickey Mouse bigger than Donald Duck."

Mr Pan's video shows the rat, which was around 15cm long, climbing up a pipe at the back of the stall, next to where four roast ducks were hanging.

According to Mr Pan, the stall was closed at that time. He believes the four roast ducks were meant for next day's business.

He added: "Rats are running up and down along the pipes so it's easy for ingredients left outside to be contaminated with bacteria, which is very unhygienic.

"I am also worried that other stalls will be affected, so I will not patronise this coffee shop for the time being."

A staff who declined to be named told Shin Min that this is the first time rats have been discovered at the stall in its two years of operations. Food will now be stored properly after the stall closes to prevent such incidents from happening again.

Employees from other stalls revealed having seen rats at the rubbish chute behind the coffee shop and said that one or two would occasionally come out in search of food late at night.

"The coffee shop carries out cleaning work every few months and we will continue to monitor the situation closely," a source was quoted as saying.