Pokemon Go fans climb Japanese Garden gate

No Pokestops in Singapore could be more aptly placed than those in the Japanese Garden, as Pokemon Go, the mobile app game that has taken the world by storm, has a Japanese aura.

The garden, located on a man-made island in Jurong Lake, used to be a very quiet place at night.

But now it is abuzz with people every day after dusk, as Pokemon Go players would gather at its gates, intent on capturing the virtual Pokemon species spotted “lurking” inside it, reported Lianhe Wanbao.

The augmented reality map on their mobile devices has pointed them to the wild Pokemon there, which might be residing near its pond, behind its stone lanterns or on its arched bridges.

Gotta catch ’em all: Pokemon Go now in Singapore

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But there is a snag: The garden is closed daily from 7pm to 5.30am.

The more determined souls, however, refused to budge, the Chinese evening daily observed on Tuesday night.

Some clambered over the steel gate which barred them from crossing the bridge that links the Japanese Garden with the adjoining Chinese Garden.

They had been on the trail of their games in the Chinese Garden, which opens until 11pm daily, before they came to the gate.

Others would find other ways to bypass the gate, Wanbao noted.

The reporter heard from time to time excited screams from inside the garden, saying: “There’s one here.”

While the intruders were busy hunting around, the garden’s security guards were also hard at work, driving their patrol buggies around to chase them out.

Now and then, some players were seen being escorted to the gate and expelled.

Places of interest are the most common “habitats” of wild Pokemon but the app has been criticised in many countries for including sites such as cemeteries and memorials.

The first arrests in Singapore related to the game took place on Sunday at the carpark entrance of Plaza Singapura in Orchard Road after a pedestrian playing Pokemon Go exchanged blows with a driver.

Wanbao also noted that Pokemon Go players no longer congregated at a playground below Block 401 of Hougang Avenue 10, a crowded Pokestop for nights.

Those who came on Tuesday night gathered at an open-air carpark just a stone’s throw away.

But when some players refused to shift away from parking spaces for residents who could not find an unoccupied lot, the police were called to the scene.

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