SINGAPORE: A few macaques made their way to Changi Airport on Tuesday afternoon (Dec 3) and were spotted walking around the departure hall of Terminal 2. Videos of the incident, which occurred at around 2:00 in the afternoon, circulated on a number of social media sites.
One woman, in particular, won praise online for talking to one of the monkeys and leading it toward an exit. The video shared over TikTok by The Singaporean Son charmed many online. Since it was posted on Tuesday, it has been viewed 1.3 million times.
@thesingaporeanson Monkey wants to check-in for his flight… #singapore
♬ original sound – The Singaporean Son – The Singaporean Son
The video showed a uniformed woman walking alongside a macaque and pointing toward the door.
Although the video has no sound, the woman appears to be fearlessly and patiently talking to the monkey as though it can fully understand what she is saying.
At one point, when the macaque steps toward her, she even waves her hand as though she’s saying no to it. “This is what you call real customer service. Be it human or animal, you show the way out politely,” wrote one TikTok user.
While others are looking on, some travellers seem oblivious to the situation, walking by with their luggage as though nothing unusual is happening.
In another video posted on the TikTok account of @summer88959 夏天, a couple of macaques can also be seen climbing the stairs.
@summer88959 其实是很可爱的… 🐒
According to the National Parks Board, the only commonly seen monkey species in Singapore is the long-tailed macaque, which is probably why, by and large, people were pretty chill concerning the whole incident.
NParks says: “Remember to keep a respectful distance when doing so. Don’t feed or provoke them, and don’t encourage them to approach you by displaying food items and plastic bags. If you observe them closely, you may be rewarded with a display of innovative behaviours!” /TISG