Theft at allotment garden plots in Singapore riles up some gardeners

These incidents include people digging up her roselle plant directly from the 2.5m by 1m plot, cutting the leaves of her coriander plant and taking a pot of lemongrass she had planted.

Wong, a homemaker in her early 50s, is not the only gardener who has had to deal with theft.

Eight gardeners told The Straits Times that their plants have been stolen from their plots over the past several years.

Allotment gardens are gardening plots that people can lease at $62.13 a year for a period of up to three years from the National Parks Board (NParks).

Gardeners who maintain good gardening etiquette, such as keeping their plots tidy and clean, will be offered additional temporary occupation licences in three-year blocks.

Found across 28 parks, the 32 allotment gardens in Singapore contain more than 2,400 plots.

Woo Wee Meng, coordinating director of community partnerships at NParks, told ST that everything grown in an allotment garden plot is the property of the gardener who has been issued a temporary occupation licence.

At the eight allotment gardens ST visited in March and April at Bedok Town Park, Bedok Reservoir Park, Choa Chu Kang Park, East Coast Park, Jurong Lake Gardens and Villa Verde Park, NParks signs telling people not to pick any of the plants were seen.

Woo said these signs were installed around the allotment gardens to inform and remind the public not to remove or vandalise the plants and structures in the plots.

ST also observed makeshift signs put up by gardeners, telling people that these plants were the result of their hard work and should not be taken without permission.

“It’s very frustrating to keep encountering these thefts,” Wong said, adding that these experiences have prompted her to consider caging up her plot.

“If Singapore wants to encourage people to learn how to grow (plants) and feed ourselves, and also achieve its 30 by 30 goal, this process needs to be less frustrating, especially when people put in so much effort to grow these (plants),” the retired finance industry trainer said.

Singapore aims to produce 30 per cent of its nutritional needs by 2030.

To secure an allotment garden plot, aspirants have to submit an application. Only one application per household will be accepted, and plots are given out under a balloting system.

While NParks did not provide the number of reports of allotment garden theft it has received in recent years, many gardeners said the theft of plants had begun some time ago.

At Choa Chu Kang Park, retired engineer Chee Heng has had his vegetables stolen at least once every year.

When that happens, the 78-year-old, who has had the plot for the past seven years, will lose about a quarter of his vegetables.

Madam H. Chan, who has had a plot at Jurong Lake Gardens for the past seven years, had a small orange tree that she was growing in a pot taken three years ago.

The 66-year-old homemaker said most gardeners intend to take their produce home to cook.

“When you have plans to do something and yet you are not able to do it, your heart sinks,” she said.

At Jurong Lake Gardens, ST saw many allotment plots caged or covered with netting, and some were locked up.

Yet, the nets do not seem to have completely deterred people from stealing plants from the plots.

Despite netting up her plot, a gardener who wanted to be known only as Madam Goh had her orchid cut off in late February. She said the orchid plant was gifted to her in 2024, and she had spent a year nurturing it.

She suspects the culprit lifted the netting and cut the orchid with a sharp tool.

“When we put up nets (around the plants), the growth of some plants is restricted... I’m very disappointed and angry. We put in all these efforts to grow the plant and want to see the outcome,” the retired office worker said.

The 75-year-old, who has also had an allotment garden plot at Jurong Lake Gardens for seven years, grows lime there, too.

Limes, for instance, tend to be stolen more often as they can be easily plucked, she said.

At the allotment garden plot at Bedok Reservoir Park, a retired draughtswoman who gave her name only as Yap, 64, also faced the same issue.

She has been gardening there for five years, and had two cabbages stolen from her netted plot in July 2023.

To deal with the problem, some gardeners have written to NParks, expressing their frustration and asking for more surveillance around the allotment gardens.

Woo said NParks installs CCTV cameras in parks for the safety of all park users, and does not install such cameras for the specific needs of individuals, such as allotment gardeners.

Yap said a fellow gardener had placed a CCTV camera in his plot at Bedok Reservoir Park, but NParks told him to remove it.

On this, NParks’ Woo said: “Individuals are not allowed to install personal CCTVs in the gardens, as these are public spaces.”

Where there may be recurrent reports of incidents of theft or vandalism at particular locations, Woo said NParks will put in place other measures, such as the installation of CCTVS as deterrence.

Woo also said gardeners may make a police report on any theft, and NParks will assist accordingly.

“We urge members of the public to be considerate and not pick or damage the plants found within the allotment gardens, which are grown with great care and effort by the gardeners.”

Sheo Chiong Teng

The Straits Times

Asia News Network