Year of the Rat? Rodent sighting at Lucky Plaza under investigation by SFA

SINGAPORE: A video of a rat boldly eating off the plates of diners at the food court at Basement 1 of Lucky Plaza shopping mall has prompted an investigation from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).

The 16-second clip was first shared by Facebook user Sheryle O. Oro on February 19. It shows a group of people at a food court table, where there were dishes with remnants of meals still on them.

At the beginning of the video, a man was seated, looking at his mobile phone, oblivious to a rat that was eating off of one of the plates across from the man. However, as soon as the man became aware of the rat, he immediately got up and started filming it, while the woman can be seen taking her bags away from the table.

A staff quickly swooped in with a rag, pounced on the rat, and then carried it away.

Ms Oro’s video has since been viewed over 73,000 times and was later shared on other platforms such as Reddit.

Many commenters online noted that rat sightings, even in eating places, have become more and more common. Others commended the staff for their quick action, with some pointing out that it seemed that it wasn’t the first time for him to catch a rodent, based on how he moved.

SFA spoke to MS News, saying that the matter will be investigated. As always, the agency underlined its “serious view towards food safety,” adding that all feedback regarding poor food safety practices will be looked into.

“As part of the enquiry and gathering of evidence, SFA may engage the feedback provider for more details and will not hesitate to take enforcement action if sufficient evidence has been obtained,” SFA added.

Rats have been a growing problem in Singapore. On February 14, 2025, the National Environment Agency (NEA) announced that in the previous year, it had taken 1,000 enforcement actions together with the SFA against owners or occupiers, shopping malls, and food establishments due to rat-related lapses. In contrast, the agencies had only needed to take 670 enforcement actions in 2023. NEA noted that almost half of the enforcements it took in 2024 were because of poor trash management.

For the first half of 2025, the authorities noted almost a 50% increase in rat burrows from the previous year, detecting 5,400 burrows every two months.

Among the areas where rat infestations have been reported are Lucky Plaza, Tangs Market, and the SIT campus at Punggol.

The causes for increasing rat infestations are insufficient waste management, improper disposal of food waste, the feeding of stray animals and birds, and construction debris. /TISG

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