I'd do it myself

SHE was doing her ironing in the living room of her HDB flat when she heard a loud thud.

LOOK WHAT THEY FOUND! Mr Christopher Tan, 52, tries to force the 3m snake out of its hiding place at the top of the shelf. Mr Tan puts the snake in a pillowcase held by his daughter Charmaine Tan, 24. TNP PICTURES: KELVIN CHNG

Thinking that something had fallen, Mrs Allysia Tan checked the flat, but did not find anything amiss.

Five minutes later, she heard another, softer, thud.

This time, when she went into the master bedroom, she was horrified to see a snake about 3m long, slithering on the floor.

Frightened by the snake, which she described as grey with green spots and huge fangs, she ran out of the room.

The incident happened at about 12.20pm on Monday when Mrs Tan and her daughter, Chrissia, 6, were in their four-room flat at Block 409, Tampines Street 41.

Their unit is on the 12th storey, the highest in the block.

Mrs Tan, 40, said she called the police and was told by an officer that he would call her back.

She said that when she called the Tampines Town Council, she was told that it could not help as the snake was not in a public area.

Mrs Tan then called her housing agent husband, Mr Christopher Tan, 52, and SMSed her eldest daughter, Miss Charmaine Tan, 24.

Mr Tan told The New Paper: 'I thought my wife was exaggerating about the size of the snake. I didn't expect that such a huge snake can be found in a HDB flat.'

Mrs Tan figured that the snake probably made its way into the house through the master bedroom window.

'The first sound I heard could be from it falling onto the aircon compressor, and the second sound from it falling on the room's floor,' she said.

She said the police officer called her back at about 12.45pm and gave her the number of a pest control company, PestBusters.

By this time, Mr Tan had rushed home from his office in Toa Payoh.

When Mrs Tan called PestBusters, she said she was quoted $120 for the snake to be removed. She agreed to the price.

Mr Tan found the snake in the wardrobe of the master bedroom.

'I moved a plastic box inside and saw the snake,' he said.

'I jumped back in shock. It was coiled up around the metal poles of the shelves.'

Pest controllers

While waiting for the pest controllers, Mr Tan tried to catch the snake using a bamboo pole with the help of The New Paper photojournalist Kelvin Chng, who arrived at the scene at 1.45pm.

But the snake tried to attack them, and they gave up.

At 2.30pm, Miss Tan, a part-time sales assistant, arrived home after work.

She said that based on her knowledge of reptiles, the snake looked like a reticulated python. Native to South-east Asia, it's the world's longest snake and can grow up to 9m.

Miss Tan showed us a book on reptiles and also called her younger brother, Mark, a 20-year-old NSF, who was in camp.

Based on her description, he agreed that it was most probably a reticulated python.

He told Miss Tan that they should use gloves to grab the snake and put it into a pillow case.

At 2.45pm, two pest controllers arrived.

After seeing the snake, they told the Tans they would have to charge them $550 as the snake was longer than they expected. (See report above, right).

Mr Tan said: '$550? I might as well do it myself.'

Then, he grabbed the snake's head, while Miss Tan caught hold of the tail.

They put the snake inside a pillow case, tied and put the case into a empty fish tank, which they covered with a metal sheet, with bricks on top.

Miss Tan's boyfriend then carried the tank and placed it outside their flat.

Miss Tan said she contacted wildlife charity Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) on Monday night to pick up the snake.

When The New Paper checked with her last night, she said the snake was still outside their unit.

The Tans threw out the shelves in their wardrobe as the snake had urinated on them.

Miss Tan joked: 'Maybe the snake was scared too.'