Passer-by startled after snake falls a metre away from him in CBD: ‘Jiak zua’
A consultant was about to cross the road in the Central Business District (CBD) when a snake fell onto the pavement just a metre away from him, sending people screaming and running away.
Speaking to Stomp, Greg Andrle said that the incident occurred at around 1.19pm on April 27, at the junction of Robinson Road and McCallum Street.
“I heard a smack on the pavement and something fell from above. I jumped back and looked and it was a snake that fell from the building, it was just utter shock,” Mr Andrle said.
The 38-year-old consultant posted a video of the incident on his Instagram account, @certified_gmo, showing a green snake slithering on the ground near a traffic light.
He told Stomp that it was his first time encountering a snake “in the middle of the CBD”, though he had seen them before in parks.
Fellow passers-by were equally startled — Mr Andrle recalled seeing some people “screaming and running away” while others stopped to watch.
Authorities informed of incident
“The snake was disoriented, I felt bad for it, and it was looking for a way out. It slithered towards the steps of the Afro-Asia building and wrapped itself around the railing,” he added.
Mr Andrle subsequently alerted security officers of the building, who cordoned off the area and contacted authorities regarding the incident.
The 38-year-old told Stomp that he also attempted to alert Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) to the incident.
According to an advisory by the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS), members of the public should remain calm if they encounter a snake and avoid attempting to handle it.
The public are advised to call AVS’ Animal Response Centre at 1800-476-1600 should they encounter snakes that are injured, distressed, or trapped.
Stomp has reached out to NParks and Acres for more information.
The post garnered over 100 comments on Instagram, with netizens saying that it was a sign of “good luck”, while one described it as “traumatising”.
“Poor little dude. I hope it got back to the trees,” one commenter said, while another joked: “someone not working... jiak zua.”
“Jiak zua”, which translates to “eat snakes” in Hokkien, is commonly used in Singapore to refer to someone who is slacking off or skiving.
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