One man from Singapore thought it apt to write an email to a local politician instead of reaching for an insect repellant or a slipper when it came to getting rid of a cockroach.

The e-mail was shared to the public on Facebook by Baey Yam Keng, senior parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Transport & Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, who received the message last Dec. 10.

In his post, a screenshot of the email can be seen, as well as the photo of the said cockroach. As per the unidentified man, he called the Town Council office at around 3:30 p.m. to report to them of the cockroach on the staircase of what presumably was his apartment. The man was told by an operator that a worker would remove the cockroach, but nobody came to do so two hours later.

“Can you please get someone immediately to remove the cockroach?” the man told Baey. “And I realized that your own council line is very difficult to get through.”

Baey has since addressed the man’s concern on his Facebook post on Dec. 11.

“Reading between the lines, I know these are the bigger issues I should focus on,” he said. “Whether there is a cockroach infestation problem there? How can the town council improve its hotline?”

In the end, Baey thanked the man for going out of his way to send an email regarding the said cockroach.

“Thanks to the resident for taking the trouble to get through the hotline and monitoring the whereabouts of the cockroach, as well as a photo of it,” Baey added.

Meanwhile Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin reached out to Baey on Dec. 12 to talk about their, well, shared cockroach issues.

“Baey Yam Keng you have cockroach issues too!” Tan wrote. “Been receiving evidence of cockroach ‘infestation’ by an individual whose mum lives in my estate. Purportedly.”

As per Tan, he received an email from a man complaining of a cockroach infestation around his area, which the Town Council has responded to promptly every time. He further told Baey there is no such infestation and many hours have been wasted in responding to the unidentified man’s calls.

“He is unhappy that I had not emailed him to respond personally,” Tan said. “There is clearly no infestation and many man hours have been expended to follow through each time.” JB

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