'Ashamed of being Singaporean': Blogger highlights bad behaviour at Sembawang Hot Spring Park

The hype over the new Sembawang Hot Spring Park has yet to die down but complaints of unsavoury behaviour have already begun to emerge, just days after its reopening on Jan 4.

For blogger Petunia Lee, her experience at the park was marred by the sight of a domestic helper being made to wash her employers' feet.

Lee wrote in a blogpost published on Jan 7: "She fetched water. She bent down and splashed water over her employers' feet and calves. Those people did not look handicapped. They probably have delusions of royalty."

"At times like this, I am so ashamed of being Singaporean," she added.

Besides soaking their feet in the geothermally heated groundwater at the four-tier cascading pool, visitors can also cook eggs at the park using the hot water dispensed at water collection points.

Alas, that did not go well for Lee either. Her attempt to cook the eggs that she had brought was cut short when an old man dumped his dirty feet-soaking water into the pail holding her eggs.

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"It was a seriously lovely place. It just had a lot of people clueless about how their actions affect others," Lee concluded.

Unfortunately, her experience doesn't appear to be an isolated incident.

When a Shin Min Daily News reporter visited the park on Jan 9, more bad behaviour was on display.

A number of visitors were caught disposing of their dirty water onto the ground or into the cascading pool instead of pouring it into the drain.

People were also seen entering the pool without rinsing their feet.

"This is a public pool. Our feet are sure to be dirty from walking here and there. People should wash their feet before entering the pool," one 31-year-old woman told the newspaper.

Other contaminants of the cascading pool include egg shells "floating at the bottom" and dirt from bare-footed children hopping into the pool after running around the park, according to one visitor's complaint on NParks' Facebook page.

Sembawang Hot Spring Park may be much improved after its $4.3 million redevelopment but it seems like its visitors still have a long way to go.

kimberlylim@asiaone.com