Monkeys have picnic at Woodlands void deck while food is thrown at them
Ivan Lim
TNP
Aug 21, 2025
A video of a troop of eight monkeys spread out at the void deck of a Woodlands HDB block has amused and alarmed netizens.
The 15-second clip was shared on the Singapore Incidents Facebook page on Aug 20 with the caption "Woodlands monkeys infestation". At press time, it had garnered some 53,000 views and more than 400 reactions.
The monkeys are seated as if they are observing social distancing, while food is thrown at them by someone off camera.
Commenters suggested that the video was taken at Block 369 Woodlands Avenue 1. Some expressed concern over the monkeys being fed in the clip, while others say they have no place to go since humans took their habitat.
"Who is the big ape feeding the macaques?" asked one commenter.
"There are so many residents feeding them like feeding pigeons. No wonder it keeps increasing," said another.
"Do not feed them. They must have picked from the rubbish chute or someone's kitchen," warned yet another commenter
Netizens were also divided - "So cute!" - on the monkeys, with some labelling them as "scary" while others were sympathetic to what they felt was the primates' plight. "We took their habitat, they take our void deck...Fair," said a commenter.
Another netizen agreed: "What to do, give them back their home."
One had a somewhat cheeky suggestion: "Ask NEA go use water gun to shoot."
Wild Singapore, a website that celebrates nature and wildlife in Singapore, warns that feeding monkeys can cause more harm than good to both monkeys and humans.
Monkeys in Singapore are part of the natural ecosystem and leaving them to feed on what is in the forest helps it to regenerate.
Feeding them, however, could make them a nuisance as they would start expecting food from humans and get aggressive.
