Man Vs Beast Singapore's Venomous Side

“So, how about moving to Singapore?” It’s a sentence that has been uttered to many partners and potential trailing spouses. I’d venture many of them then dust offthe old school atlas to fi nd out more about the place. “Not very big, is it?” “Is it part of Malaysia?” “What language do they speak?”

- Olivia Syrett

One question I don’t remember asking is, “Is there anything living there that can kill me?” You know, things lurking in dark corners, or under loo seats.

My husband’s recent dalliance with the shockingly ugly and extremely dangerous Synanceia verrucosa has made me question just how benign this little island really is.

In the damp corner of Northern England that I call home, nature won’t tend to harm you. So, on Morning One – a newlywed in a serviced apartment in a foreign city – I was dutifully sorting through some laundry when out jumped a spider. The Red Dot’s equivalent to the Red Back, perhaps? I’ve watched Arachnophobia; it didn’t have a good effect on me. Nor did this! (Now, almost a decade on, I rather admire them; in fact, I egg them on – with their legion of loose-bowelled gecko pals – to gobble up as many mosquitos as possible.)