A man carrying a hoe and digging soil under a Housing Development Board (HDB) block shocked residents at Ang Mo Kio. Some thought he was carrying an axe and quickly called the police.
Mr Xu, a reader, told Shin Min Daily News that on Wednesday (2 September), around 7 pm, several police cars and many officers showed up at the open-air car park in front of Block 609 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4. The atmosphere there was tense.
He was resting at home when he suddenly heard a noise outside. Curious, he looked out and saw police officers searching the incinerator at the void deck.
“I wasn’t sure what happened. Later, my neighbour told me they saw a man walking around downstairs holding an axe. I thought something serious had happened,” he said.
From the photos Mr Xu provided, police were gathered around the incinerator while candles and offerings were placed on the grass nearby, making the quiet night feel tense.
Another male resident said he had actually seen the man earlier at around 6 pm. The man was digging soil with a hoe in the grass patch in front of the incinerator. Since it was the Hungry Ghost Festival, he didn’t ask questions.
“The man’s behaviour was strange. He dug a neat, square hole very seriously. I thought it was some ritual, so I just left it. When I came home after 8 pm, police were there, but the man was already gone,” he recalled.
By the time reporters visited, the hole had been filled up, but traces of soil disturbance could still be seen. Residents likely found his actions suspicious or mistook the hoe for a weapon, which was why the police were alerted.
Turns out the man was burying a turtle
Later, it was revealed that the man was actually burying a turtle in the car park area.
One resident who kept watching from the corridor said he saw a turtle shell on the grass patch. He believed the man dug the hole just to bury the turtle.
Not long after, people who looked like wildlife rescuers came and took away the turtle remains, ending the incident.
“The turtle shell had very unique patterns. It didn’t look like the common species we usually see here, so it left a deep impression on me,” the resident added.
Mr Xu also said the candles and offerings near the incinerator were not put there by the man, but by a nearby resident as Hungry Ghost Festival offerings.
