Twice recently, as Shantel Lim was jogging near her home, she got quite a shock when a rat scuttled past in front of her.

Besides the shock, she felt a little anxious about being bitten. “I’d have to go to hospital immediately, as (rats) carry many pathogens, viruses … and bacteria,” said the 24-year-old.

It is not just the solitary rat or two, however, that she has chanced upon in her Tampines Street 33 estate. She sees them in the void deck, “always at rubbish chutes” and in drains too.