Are there little bugs in Singapore?

[michaelthurner]

Hi,
I am planning to move to SIN from AUSTRIA (EU) with my family (wife and two boys: 2;4) within the next months. My wife is a little frighten regarding bugs/vermins in singapore. Can somebody tell me, how clean the houses are? If you find singapore clean (regarding animals) and safe? I would like to show your reply to my wife then.
Thanks and Happy New Year to all of you!

Michael

[sierra2469alpha]

Hi Michael and welcome to the forums here!

Have a quick search using the function just up on the top right for bugs, insects. I recall a few months ago some of our friends here were talking about the issue.

In general, Singapore is a very clean place with the occasional bug but also mosquitos. I'd suggest you check out the health despatches issued by your government, or do a quick Google/search engine of choice on the World Health Organisation.

My wife and I travel very extensively and have certainly seen bugs the size of small light aircraft in parts of Asia, but not so much here in Singapore.

The usual precuations should be done - ensure you have the innoculations (HINT: get your company to write this into your contract), but in terms of normal creepy-crawlies, I cannot add too much - but go do that search I suggested.

Best of luck with your move, cheers, Mr. P
[EDIT: Spelling? What's that!]

[durain]

singapore being a tropical country, you gonna get bugs, inserts, etc. a while ago, someone mentioned snakes in their property, but that's not too common. no matter how clean your property is, they will come from your neighbours, the building, air, etc.

you can control them with spray, bait, etc but just be prepare to encounter them once or twice in a while. overall, it is clean and safe.

[jpatokal]

I find Singapore impossibly sterile, especially the hawker centres. How can you have all that food sitting around outdoors all day and not get a single fly? Especially given that every eatery across the causeway in Malaysia is full of them?

The Jpatokal Bugdex:

Ants: Teeny tiny (and I mean tiny, these things are close to invisible) ants will appear from nowhere to feast on anything sweet left lying around, and disappear just as silently when they've had their fill. Rarely if ever seen outside the kitchen.

Cockroaches: Regrettably unavoidable in most of the country; even if you keep your place spic and span, some of your neighbors won't, and they (the roaches, not the neighbors, although you never know...) also like to climb up the garbage chute. Found skittering in dark alleyways and parking garages near the endpoint of said chutes as well. Only an occasional nuisance though.

Mosquitoes: Non-existent if you live above the 10th floor. Virtually non-existent on lower floors as well, I used to live on the 3rd floor and kept my windows open all the time, and got bitten maybe once every few months if that. No malaria in Sing, occasional dengue though.

Other bugs: Rare to nonexistent.

This is for condos and HDBs. If you decide to live in a bungalow/black & white/etc, expect to get more up close and personal with the tropics

[TennoHekka]

Wie Gehts! Most bugs in Sg are confined to ants, roaches (they're kinda big and fly, just in case you aren't aware) and the occasional mosquitoes, though thankfully they are not as numerous as in the European countryside during summer or something. The others are so rare you'll have to trek out to the woods to find them, so you should be ok there. If you live in a decent apartment, you'll prolly meet only the ants from time to time, though if you're out, especially at a coffeeshop, making an acquaintance with a roach would most likely be unavoidable. Only thing to note is that the adeles mosquito here is known to carry some nasty diseases, though it would really be a case of bad luck if you got stung by an one carrying infections, that's rare enough, thankfully! All-in-all, don't worry, bugs are an insignificant problem in this urbanized environment

[sundaymorningstaple]

As I'm the HR & Finance Manager of a Pest Control company that has tripled in size in the past 36 months as is on the verge of becoming the largest one here in terms of manpower with 55 vehicles and currently 215 staff of which 195 are in the field every day 5.5 days a week. There are bugs here as well as vermin and stray creatures as would be expected when you build next to the last remaining vestiges of rain forest here and have numerous underground tunnels, monsoon drains and other subterranean structures. That all I'm gonna say.

[carolynW]

Don't forget dog ticks!

[JimH5]

We are in a new building, fairly high up, and we still get small bugs. I suspect they came in with the plants we bought for our balcony, though they could be from nature as well.

We've been limited to seeing tiny, relentless ants, who pop up from time to time, and our cat has had a couple of cases where she had several flea bites on her head and neck. A treatment of Frontline took care of that, but it looks as though it's going to have to be more of a monthly thing to keep them at bay.

Otherwise, we haven't encountered bugs--though again, we're in a highrise apartment.

[Saint]

And don't forget our friendly little geckos

[dawgbyte]

It also depend on where you are staying. Places with shophouses and big drainage (longkang) near some food stalls, will have more bugs. I have seen occasional rats as big as a guinea pigs in mohammad soltan and one of the bugis street. But more high-end expensive places are so clean bugs will die of malnourishment. The most problematic pest here are big black birds that try to steal your food, and contaminate your hair product.

But the government has fumigation exercise periodically, and they also have occasional inspection for all household to check any places that bugs and rodents and other pest can hide (especially mosquitos). So little bugs exist but very controlled.

I think I will be more scared of a country that has no bugs. It reminds me of some horror movies where the place is so evil no birds or animals wanna go there.

[michaelthurner]

Thanks, this was very helpful!
Best regards,
Michael

I find Singapore impossibly sterile, especially the hawker centres. How can you have all that food sitting around outdoors all day and not get a single fly? Especially given that every eatery across the causeway in Malaysia is full of them?

The Jpatokal Bugdex:

Ants: Teeny tiny (and I mean tiny, these things are close to invisible) ants will appear from nowhere to feast on anything sweet left lying around, and disappear just as silently when they've had their fill. Rarely if ever seen outside the kitchen.

Cockroaches: Regrettably unavoidable in most of the country; even if you keep your place spic and span, some of your neighbors won't, and they (the roaches, not the neighbors, although you never know...) also like to climb up the garbage chute. Found skittering in dark alleyways and parking garages near the endpoint of said chutes as well. Only an occasional nuisance though.

Mosquitoes: Non-existent if you live above the 10th floor. Virtually non-existent on lower floors as well, I used to live on the 3rd floor and kept my windows open all the time, and got bitten maybe once every few months if that. No malaria in Sing, occasional dengue though.

Other bugs: Rare to nonexistent.

This is for condos and HDBs. If you decide to live in a bungalow/black & white/etc, expect to get more up close and personal with the tropics