Channel News Asia programme, Talking Point, dedicated an investigative episode to Yishun and found that the estate in the north is still okay.

What did the programme find?

The programme found that there are other neighbourhoods in Singapore with a higher ratio of preventable crimes, in particular snatch theft, robbery, housebreaking, theft of motor vehicle and outrage of modesty.

Some statistics quoted include:

• In 2015, Orchard’s crime rate was 11.7 percentage points higher than Yishun’s.

• Yishun's crime rate is ranked 13th out of 28 estates, behind Changi, Geylang, Rochor and Marine Parade.

Explanation

One likely explanation for Yishun's reputation?

Institute of Policy Studies senior research fellow Leong Chan-Hoong, said Yishun has one of the lower national income profiles in Singapore and lower-income neighbourhoods are perceived to have higher crime rates:

“Yishun has one of the lower national income (profiles) compared to other housing estates. And in general, people tend to perceive lower-income neighbourhoods as associated with higher crime rates, for example,” he said.

“A place like Marine Parade has a lot of landed properties and condominiums, a lot of well-to-do residents, but at the same time, it also has quite a number of rental units. But the whole estate in general gives the impression that it’s a reasonably well-to-do neighbourhood.”

And it does not help that unfortunate events in the past 10 years have been very localised within Yishun itself.

These weird/ criminal/ unpleasant happenings have been occurring within the area enclosed by Yishun Ring Road.

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Cat abuse not that serious, apparently

Another apparent faux issue that received some debunking was the cat abuse problem.

There have been 41 media reports on cat abuse cases in Yishun in the last five years, far more than in any other estate.

However, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority broke the figure down further.

Between 2015 and Oct. 2017, there have been 451 alleged cat cruelty cases nationwide.

Some 18 percent of these cases that occurred in Yishun -- about 81 cases -- are allegedly cat cruelty cases.

But it turns out, only 5 percent -- or four cases -- were actual cruelty cases in Yishun.

Most of the other cases were the result of accidents or attacks by stray dogs.

Greater publicity though

Cat Welfare Society executive director Laura Ann Meranda believes that cat abuse in Yishun is amplified as cat volunteers in the area are “very gung-ho” about fighting abuse.

She said the first thing volunteers do swiftly is report the case and go on social media for help.

Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC and animal rights advocate Louis Ng said the number of cases have indeed dropped in the last two years.

Assurances

The programme also highlighted one of the questionable practices conducted in Yishun: This need to assure residents that things are alright.

In a bid to soften Yishun’s image, a team of individuals put together hundreds of “care packages” of food and drinks in June 2017 and delivered them to an entire block.

A note was attached to each package that read: “Hello neighbour, in the light of all the Yishun news that has been making headlines, a small team of individuals passionate about making good vibes decided to come together to surprise a whole block overnight...”

It is not known how many other estates carried out such a practice.

Better statistics needed

Some questions viewers might have after the programme include:

• Orchard Road might not be a suitable comparison to Yishun as it is not a suburban estate and there is the presence of Orchard Towers, a hotbed of vice.

• Yishun should have been compared to another estate of similar size and population for a better head-to-head comparison.

• More explanation could have been given as to why cats are more likely to be victims of accidents and stray dog attacks in Yishun.