Everything About the 15YO Who Lived in a Circuit Road Market Stall

Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) has put in place specific guidelines and cleaning standards, known as the Code of Practice on Environmental Health, to ensure our hawker centres and wet markets are safe and hazard-free.

However, while some NEA officers inspected the Circuit Road Market and Food Centre in early Apr, they noticed a girl living in a wet market stall.

Here’s what happened.

Girl Lived in Circuit Road Market for 11 Months

Upon NEA’s discovery of the mysterious girl at the food centre, an assistance call was made to the police on 4 Apr 2024.

MacPherson MP Tin Pei Ling expressed her shock about the girl who lived in the market since she had visited the market frequently and did not notice anything unusual.

In her concern, Ms Tin asked the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) about the details of the girl. She found that she had lived there for about 11 months.

According to Lianhe Zaobao the girl had lived there with her father. They were housed in one of the three stalls rented. The other two stalls were used to sell vegetables and for general storage.

The size of the stall was estimated to be about 2m by 3m. It included a mattress on the floor with what could be the girl’s soft toys, and a table and refrigerator.

A stall owner told The Straits Times that she had noticed the girl and her father spending a lot of time at their stall even after closing time.

She Relieved Herself in Buckets

Stall owners noticed she was very young and suspected to have some learning and socialising difficulties as she barely spoke and only used gestures and waves to communicate.

Most alarmingly, stall owners were aware that she relieved herself in buckets that were in the stall. She did not leave the market to use the bathroom.

This has resulted in a strong smell that a few stall owners with their stalls located units away had pointed out, but eventually grew accustomed to it.

An 80-year-old stall owner told The Straits Times that he had been trying to help – offering her food and attempting to talk to her. However, he said that her father did not allow him to provide the girl with food.

It was alleged that she would only eat white bread given by her father. Her father had also mentioned to the stall owner that he did not want help from other stall owners and the authorities.

Therefore, stall owners who were concerned did not call the authorities until NEA’s inspection. They mentioned they did not want to create trouble and force the father into doing anything.

Children and Young Person’s Act 1993

After the police were called on, they shared that a 63-year-old man was helping with investigations, especially about the potential ill-treatment of the girl. The ill-treatment of a child or young person due to neglect falls under the Children and Young Persons Act. 

The Act aims to protect children and youths in need and ensure they have enough resources for proper development. In Section 5 of the act, a child or young person is deemed someone “in need of care or protection” if the parent or guardian is unable to, or has “neglected to provide adequate food, clothing, medical aid, lodging, care or other necessities of life for the child”.

Section 5 also includes the risk of the child being ill-treated regardless of intention and the likelihood of the child suffering from emotional harm.

Those who are convicted under this Act can be jailed for up to eight years, fined up to $8000, or both.

This is in line with MSF’s efforts to ensure family safety, especially with the launch of new hotlines for the reporting of potential abuse, violence or neglect.

Child Protective Service

An MSF spokesman said that NEA had reported the case to MSF’s Child Protective Service (CPS) on 3 Apr.

They have ensured that the girl is brought to the hospital for a check-up and are exploring alternative care options after her discharge. This is to ensure she is safe and her well-being is guaranteed.

MSF also mentioned that no additional information about the child and her father will be disclosed to protect their privacy amidst ongoing police investigation.

Public Support 

Ms Tin urged the public to report anything that appears “not quite right” or unusual, regardless if it is a false alarm.

She assured that the authorities will do their checks and such calls from the public can help ensure that everything is fine.