Apparently, it’s bed bug season. While we live in the tropics with no real ‘seasons’ to speak of, we actually do have one when it comes to these critters. This is because bed bugs (and other bitey things) prefer the drier, hotter weather – and when we are dressed the least.
Case in point: a recent case of bedbugs on a Scoot flight made headlines when frequent flyer Jiamin Han took to Facebook to complain of several red bug bite marks on her arms and back after taking a round trip flight between Singapore and Hong Kong.
According to her Facebook post:
“I took flights TR-2062 and TR-2069 on Tuesday 8 August from Singapore to Hong Kong and back. After I touched down, I noticed my arms and back had a cluster of bed bug bites. As it was a daytrip to HK, these bites could not have come from anywhere apart from the plane.”
Scoot later released a statement that said no bed bugs were found on board the aircraft, but that the matter is still being investigated. This is not the first time Scoot had a bug bite report on board: back in September 2016, a flyer was bitten by bed bugs on a Taipei-Singapore flight – and they allegedly even saw the culprit:
“45 minutes before landing, my partner’s arm was itching like crazy. It turned out to be bed-bugs bite. We even saw the bug itself being brown and about 0.5cm on the chair. ”
But bed bugs (or bugs in general) don’t care what seat you’re on – they’re gonna bite you even if you’re in a cinema seat.
A moviegoer by the name of Debra Low had recently posted a complaint on GV’s Facebook page showing a photo of bumps on her skin. She first noticed a rash on her skin after going for a movie at the GV cinema at City Square Mall on July 23. And then it happened again when she went to another movie at Junction 8 on August 7.
However, according to a GV spokesperson, there were no bugs detected at both places, and that a pest control unit conducts monthly inspections for all its cinemas.
Could it be that Debra’s and Jiamin’s rashes were caused by dust and other allergens (like someone’s pet cat hair) and not bug bites? In some individuals, food allergies can also cause rashes.
In case you want to know, bed bug season is basically from April to November – basically the northern hemisphere’s spring to autumn. Now you know what to do, you can try and avoid the situation by wearing more clothing on planes and in cinemas. But unless you’re allergic to insect bites (which can cause severe problems in some people – especially very young children), they’re just like any other bite you can handle.
