1. Students will alight at this bus-stop.
2. Next, students need to trek through the tall grass. A visible path has been created through the grass field by students who regularly tread through the area.
3. Students then have to cross a narrow canal by climbing over the barricades. Someone even created a makeshift 'walkway' and handrail to make the crossing easier.
4. The most dangerous part of the journey: Students have to make their way across the railway tracks. With their view obstructed by the long grass, students can only rely on their hearing to warn them of any danger. However, Wanbao's reporter witnessed students plugged into their earphones when making the crossing.
A train that would usually pass through the area.
5. Students finally reach a 'safety zone' only after walking through yet another grass clearing and crossing a large canal (pictured).
It is a stretch of not more than 300m, but the path is strewn with dangerous 'obstacles' that students have to overcome.
This shortcut in the Woodlands area connects three schools - Teck Whye Secondary School, Teck Whye Primary School and Pioneer Junior College.
According to a report in Wanbao, many students regularly traverse the area as it takes them only five minutes by foot to get to school from a nearby bus-stop, as compared to a 25-minute walk along a pedestrian pathway.
Along the way, the students - many of them female - have to trek through a grass field, climb over barricades to cross a narrow canal, and even manoeuvre themselves across a railway track.
One 17-year-old junior college student who only gave his surname, Tan, said : "I stay at Senja Road, so walking to Bukit Panjang Road to take a bus would take 10 minutes; the bus ride itself takes another 10 minutes and I still have to walk for a distance before I finally reach my school."
"Taking the shortcut to and from home would not only save me a lot of time, but also two bus trips."
A female junior college student who was also spotted taking the shortcut said she takes this route despite the perils, as there is no direct bus near her home that goes to her school.
She said: "I have used this path for more than one year. I don't think it is dangerous because many other students also use it in the morning."
Although it was the exam period, no less than 20 students were spotted along the route within a two-hour time period.
Students warned of dangers
Most of the students who use the shortcut are junior college students and only a handful were secondary school students. Primary school students do not use the shortcut, said Tan.
According to the principal of Teck Whye Secondary, the back gate of the school is always locked to discourage students from taking the shortcut, even though it faces the canal directly.
The principal of Pioneer Junior college said students have been warned not to take the shortcut for safety reasons. The school has also notified the police.
Residents worried for students' safety
One nearby resident who was interviewed said she has never dared to use the shortcut. According to Ms Luo, 59, many women have been abducted and murdered there.
Her friend had also been robbed two years ago while taking the shortcut.
Another resident, retiree Ms Hu, 70, said it would be safer if the tall grass that grows alongside the railway track is cut, as they obstruct the students' view of any oncoming trains.
Students risk their lives to save 20 minute journey
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