'Mission impossible'? Macaques scaling walls of Jalan Besar HDB block astound netizens

 A scene from Mission Impossible played out in real life? 

Several netizens seemed to think so, after a TikTok video by Victoria Loh on Saturday (Aug 19) afternoon showed five macaques deftly scaling the walls of an HDB flat in Jalan Besar.

"Wow, wow, wow," said the fascinated Loh in the minute-long clip, all while the monkeys were seen taking turns to slide down the walls of the building with ease.

The exact location was not stated, but checks by AsiaOne found it to be at Block 633 Veerasamy Road.

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@ladyv_victoria/video/7268914477075139847?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7252157227077830162[/embed]

The TikTok video has since garnered over 800,000 views.

In the comments, several netizens likened the monkeys' antics to a scene from the Hollywood movie, Mission Impossible.

"The one sliding down be like 'wee'," said a netizen, with Loh replying that "they must have trained hard for this".

"The true meaning of concrete jungle," another said.

Other netizens left comments expressing their amusement towards the video.

One netizen was surprised the monkeys were near the "town centre", since previous incidents of them roaming public housing estates in search of food occurred near forested areas. 

AsiaOne has contacted Loh for more information.

According to NParks, macaques in Singapore are known to frequent their immediate surroundings — which include homes outside forested areas and mangroves — to explore and forage for food.

To monkey-proof your home, NParks suggested the following:

• Close all windows and doors, as well as installing mesh and grilles
• Keep food out of sight
• Double-knot all garbage bags and manage your refuse

ALSO READ: Teachers and pupils lock themselves in classrooms after monkey breaks into Yishun primary school

chingshijie@asiaone.com