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An HDB flat located on the ninth floor of a public housing block in Jurong West Avenue 1 has been dubbed "Jumanji", as the public can see numerous plants growing haphazardly out of the windows and balcony of the unit.

Shin Min Daily News reported that the unusual sight to behold was made even more strange as two people were seen dangling outside the ninth storey "Jumanji" flat from the roof of the 16-storey block of flats at about 11am on Nov. 1.

The personnel appeared to be carrying out pruning works on the plants that grew beyond the confines of the flat.

The area directly under where the men were working was cordoned off at first by personnel on the ground, according to an eyewitness who saw what happened from the coffee shop located opposite the block.

He said: "The other two staff were hanging in the air to trim the plants."

Took hours to prune plants

The process of trimming the excess vegetation that extended beyond the confines of the flat was laborious.

The eyewitness added: "Because the staff were hoisted mid-air and pruning manually, it took a long time to get the job done."

"It was not until 5pm that the plants beyond the flat's walls were removed, and the branches and leaves filled the entire trash can."

Paint peeling off

Shin Min reported that the balcony only has window grilles and no glass panels.

The surrounding exterior wall of the unit appeared yellow with the paint peeling after the plants were pruned.

Owner created a luxurious grove at home

The 72-year-old owner of the unit, surnamed Jiang, and who is a retiree, told Shin Min that he has lived in the flat for about 30 years.

He said he started planting flowers and plants after moving into the unit and was good at taking care of plants.

He then turned the balcony into a "grove".

Pruning pained him

He said it pained him to see the authorities step in to prune his plants from the outside, but he did not stop them.

Jiang added that this was the second time the authorities have stepped in to prune his plants -- the previous time occurred two to three years ago.

He said he believes this was due to a complaint made by someone.

He claimed that birds had previously come into this "grove" to build nests and lay eggs.

He said the plants still have their roots intact and will continue to grow.

He added: "If they still need to cut in the future, let them cut. I can't help it, but (the authorities) cannot enter my house."

How he planted so many plants

Jiang revealed that he only planted potted plants on the balcony at first, but the sunlight could not enter because the window was too high.

So, he removed the windows and left the grille intact to let the plants get plenty of sunlight.

Jiang even pieced together a thin tube to create a self-made automatic watering system, where the water will drip down the thin tube to water the flowers, so that there will be no mosquitoes.

Responses

Residents interviewed said they have seen the "Jumanji" garden the past 20 years and that they were not too bothered by the overgrown plants as long as it did not create problems for their laundry.

Other residents who labelled Jiang as selfish said his plants might fall on others below the block.

The Jurong-Clementi Town Council responded queries from Shin Min, explaining that the district councilor Xie Yao Quan and his team, as well as the town council, were aware of the fact that the outer walls of the unit involved were covered with plants, and pointed out that this situation had been going on for a long time.

The town council and other relevant agencies have repeatedly urged residents to take care of themselves and asked them to remove plants if necessary, but the situation has not improved significantly.

The town council then decided to take it a step further, deploying workers to use rope access to trim overgrown plants from the outside.

The town council reiterated that residents should ensure their indoor plant growing is well-organised and does not cause issues pertaining to public safety or health concerns.

Photos via Shin Min Daily News