Monkey Attack At Bukit Timah Hill

We brought the kids up Bukit Timah Hill for a family picnic.

I prepared their favourite breakfast. 2 Subway style sandwiches - Bread with italian herbs, 1 filled with with cheese and bacon the other with cheese and honey baked ham. That being the day after watching Diary of a Wimpy Kid with my kids, with that whole subplot about the "cheese touch", I was afraid they'd shy away from breakfast because of the cheese.

That was the least of my worries.

The street near the foot of Bukit Timah Hill could be mistaken for a monkey village. Those little critters looked really cute, perched on cars, running around with their young.. with their babies clinging under them as they ran past.

As we got out of the car, my 10-year old son clung on to a colorful bag of dried nuts and fruit which he wanted to eat at the top of the hill. That got the monkey's attention. They ran for him and tried to grab his bag.

Terrified my son ran back into the car and shut the door. Those monkeys were far from docile. The pack ran to the car and tried to get to my son. The poor boy was terrified.


We tried to shoo the monkeys away but they ignored us.

Finally, we got into the car and drove off, leaving the monkeys behind.

That traumatized my boy. He kept crying and refused to get out of the car after that. My husband and I tried to persuade him but he refused. Big strong daddy promised to protect him from the monkeys but he still sat in the car crying. Finally, we told him he could choose to sit in the car alone or join us hill climbing, in our protection. He joined us and thankfully, the rest of the outing turned out well.

As we climbed the hill, we saw sign boards telling everyone not to feed the animals.

You see, by feeding wild animals, we are harming them, not helping them.

Wild monkeys and other creatures are usually able to forage for food in the wild. By feeding them, they come to rely on getting free food from humans without looking for the food themselves. They get bold and eventually, they approach people for food.

If food is not given willingly, they simply help themselves.. like what happened with my kid. So when you see cute monkeys out in the wild, please do NOT feed them.