Posted on 09 Sep, 2008 11:50
Rats fall from ceiling of restaurant: Source of rats being investigated, says McDonalds
On September 8, STOMP received an e-mail from STOMPer Nightwind about his encounter that involved rats falling from the ceiling of a Tampines branch of McDonald's.
In the original e-mail, Nightwind says:
“At about 9.30pm today, September 6 2008, I was at the 24-hour Mcdonald's outlet located at Tampines Central 1 Blk 513, between Tampines Bus Interchange and CPF building, when rats started falling from the holes in the false ceiling.
“Initially it was just a group of about five or six teenage girls who started exclaiming and screaming in the direction of my table.
“My friends and I thought that maybe a cat wandered into the restaurant and we started looking around.
“The intermittent screaming also attracted the stares of surrounding patrons.
“My friends started noticing small black objects falling from the ceiling.
“It’s then that two rats fell from the ceiling behind me and landed on the floor inches away from me. More screaming.
“Everyone then quickly cleared the area under the false ceiling.
“The teenage girls -- still screaming -- quickly left the restaurant.
“More than half a dozen baby rats fell from the ceiling and were scurrying everywhere.
“The McDonald's staff scrambled to chase after the rats.
“They were also trying to assure everyone that there were no more rats in the ceiling.
“The manager and staff quickly caught several of the baby rats, and took them outside the restaurant, presumably to throw them onto the grass patches.
“They continued to assure everyone that there were no more rats, and that's when another baby rat poked out from one of the ceiling holes.
“I took a picture with my phone at this time, though the rat cannot be clearly seen.
“The manager climbed onto a chair and tried to hit the baby rat to dislodge it, and the rat fell onto the floor stunned.
“He then picked up the rat and ran outside. The rest of the staff quickly caught the rest of the rats and removed them from the premises.
“Failing to convince anyone that there are no more rats in the ceiling, the staff then put up notices not to occupy those seats, and started taping black plastic bags to the ceiling holes.
“Many patrons were puzzled regarding the ‘reserved seats’ and the covered holes in the ceiling.
“McDonald's did not provide any explanation, try to talk to any of the patrons, or make any further effort to prevent anyone from occupying the seats beneath the false ceiling.
“They basically tried to pretend that nothing ever happened.
“By the time I left, about 1 hour 30 minutes after the ‘rat fallout’, several of the taped up black bags were already starting to fall off.
“I think that McDonald's is rather irresponsible in that they had no guarantee that no rats were going to be falling from their ceiling again, letting people sit beneath the ceiling holes.
“I've had some experience with dealing with rats from my army days, and seeing that all the rats that fell are baby rats, there's probably a whole infestation of rats in the ceiling.
“So I am very sure there are more rats in there.
“Following the incident, I have made a call to NEA and The New Paper.
“As I patronise this outlet frequently, I hope they can clean up soon.
“I shudder to think of rats falling on my head next time."
STOMP has since contacted McDonald's regarding the issue and in a response dated September 9, Linda Ming, a Senior Communications Manager for the company, says:
"We refer to your query dated 8 September 2008, prompted by a customer email on rodents falling from the ceiling.
"At McDonald’s, we are committed to providing our customers with an enjoyable dining experience in a clean and safe environment.
"Cleanliness is one of the basic fundamentals that we never compromise on in this business.
"Apart from rigorous daily cleaning and regular maintenance and checks, we also work very closely with the relevant agencies and community to maintain the highest standards of cleanliness in our restaurants and trading area.
"We have investigated the incident with representatives from the Tampines Town Council and the National Environment Agency (NEA). As the ceiling area is not exclusive to McDonald’s, the Town Council will be working closely with NEA to trace and eliminate the source of the problem.
"Additionally, to ensure the incident will not recur in our restaurant, we are taking immediate steps to seal up access to the ceiling above the restaurant.
"The situation is the first and an isolated one.
"Please be assured that we will continue to co-operate with the Town Council and NEA to monitor the situation very closely".
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