Wild chickens of Yishun Boardwalk evade four-man net squad, spark national debate

A video of four men wielding long-handled nets in pursuit of wild chickens at Yishun Boardwalk ignited an online debate after being posted to Facebook group Complaint Singapore on July 15, 2025. The short clip, captioned 'I was just on the bus... then I saw the whole neighbourhood chasing a chicken', shows a coordinated — if chaotic — pincer movement involving two men in orange shirts and two in white, attempting to corner a single bird on a grassy patch. AsiaOne confirmed the chickens were eventually caught, though not before the footage divided the internet cleanly down the middle. Critics questioned the humaneness of the operation and called on the town council to leave the 'kampong chickens' undisturbed, with one netizen nominating the birds as 'natural alarm clocks'. Supporters of the cull countered that the population had grown too large and that crowing between 2am and 4am had become a genuine sleep disruption. The Nee Soon Town Council, which manages the Yishun Boardwalk area, confirmed it conducts 'periodic operations to manage the wild chicken population where necessary', while stressing it remains committed to handling the matter 'in a responsible and balanced manner'. The chickens, for their part, had no comment.