Someone served spicy human vegetarian meal to community cats at Singapore HDB void deck

by Michael Broad · June 24, 2021

This is a Singaporean community cat story. In Singapore they have a lot of local authority owned and managed housing in the form of apartments (flats) aka condominiums. It is called HBD (Housing & Development Board) housing. As at 2019, 78.9% of Singaporeans live in these public residential developments.

On the ground floor there is often (always?) an open space called the ‘void deck’. It is used for community activities.

And now to the point. Someone out of the kindness of their heart (or in stupidity) put down a vegetarian meal in its entirety ‘as is’ for a community cat to eat.

Someone put out a vegetarian spicy meal for humans for community cats to eat in an HBD condominium in Singapore. Photo: Doshi (believed).

The meal comprised: rice with two vegetable dishes and a piece of chapati flatbread. It was still fresh. It looks like a bought-out meal or a meal provided by a vendor.

One mystified Singaporean, Doshi, took the photo and asked: “Did they really leave that there for the cats?”

It is pretty obvious that a spicy human vegetarian meal is not suitable for an obligate carnivore. Of course, it was uneaten!

It probably acted as a deterrent for the cats rather than an attractant.

Maybe the person concerned was thinking of stray dogs? Or as one commenter said: “Or maybe someone died there and this is an offering for the deceased”.

Did you know that residents of HBD apartments are not allowed to have cats? The rule is being reviewed. Many dislike it. The authorities say it is a balancing act between cat owners and non-cat owners. I guess though that there are some stray cats in Singapore but I bet there aren’t many.

And did you know that 250 cats fall from high rise apartments every year in Singapore. Half of them die as a result. That is a lot when you consider that most residents in Singapore live in HBD flats where cats are banned.

Finally Singaporean veterinarians are stressed more than normal according to an article I wrote December 2018.

SOME MORE ON SINGAPORE’S RELATIONSHIP WITH CATS:

14 cats resuscitated with oxygen and three given CPR