Neighbours Who Just Can't Get Along

Source : The Sunday Times, Jan 20, 2008

Last week, we looked at how Singaporeans barely knew their neighbours despite living beside one another for years. Here, we focus on un-neighbourly behaviour and the rising number of complaints the authorities have been dealing with

FOUR birds kept as pets by one household have become a flash point for residents living on the eighth floor of an Hougang flat.

Ms Perdicha Chen, 48, who lives opposite the Sim household, has lodged more than 20 reports with the town council, the HDB and police, and has even been to see her MP twice over the past six months.

MS PERDICHA CHEN accuses her neighbours, the Sims, of hanging cages with their loud-chirping pet birds along the common corridor from as early as 6am, and claims that the family's dog is often unleashed

The birds' loud chirping, says Ms Chen, has led to many sleepless mornings as her neighbour has the habit of hanging his bird cages along the common corridor from as early as 6am.

'When the authorities come, he would keep the cages in the house for two days and then they are back to their old ways,' says the frustrated accounts executive who has lived there for 20 years.

MR SAMUEL SIM, with his mother-in-law (foreground) and wife, denies Ms Chen's complaints and claims that his neighbours hurl vulgarities at his family and maid. -- ST PHOTOS: LIM WUI LIANG

Cases of neighbours bickering are becoming more common these days, say parties which have to deal with such complaints.

The HDB says that there has been an increase in feedback regarding annoyances caused by neighbours - such as noise disturbances, dripping mops and wet laundry.

MPs have also noted that more residents, unhappy with their neighbours, have approached them for help at the weekly Meet-the-People sessions.

And at the Community Mediation Centre (CMC) last year, 277 sessions were conducted for disputes between neighbours. This made up just over half of the total number of mediations at the centre last year.

The year before, there were 306 disputes between neighbours.

In Aljunied GRC, MP Cynthia Phua logged 30 cases of such disputes last year, double the figure in 2006. More recently, she adds, at least two such cases have been popping up weekly.

Over at Jurong GRC, MP Halimah Yacob sees at least two cases a month.

The disputes, MPs say, range from petty issues such as the hanging of underwear and burning of joss paper along common corridors, to more serious ones such as the tossing of rubbish out of kitchen windows, with the garbage landing on neighbours' laundry.

Of the cases heard at the CMC, 80 per cent are about noisy residents or those who hurl verbal abuse and harass their neighbours. Common corridor obstruction and dripping laundry make up the other cases.

Besides the chirping birds, Ms Chen and another neighbour, Mr Alan Ang, 56, are also annoyed with the Sims' barking terrier. They say that the dog is often unleashed and has even run into their homes.

When approached by The Sunday Times, Mr Samuel Sim, 42, denies their complaints.

He says he owns only two birds and does not hang the cages along the corridor. His dog, he adds, is always leashed.

Mr Sim, who lives in the three-room flat with his wife, three teenage daughters and a maid, accuses his neighbours of hurling vulgarities at his family and maid.

'They're the ones trying to make trouble,' says the businessman who moved in five years ago. 'We don't disturb them but they have nothing better to do.'

Over in Bedok, resident Chen Wen Ling, 39, is looking forward to getting away from her neighbour of 20 years. So great is the animosity between them that both sides barely exchange greetings.

The bad vibes started almost 15 years ago when her neighbour started crowding the common corridor with more than 10 pairs of shoes and up to 20 flower pots, she claims, adding that the other party refused to clear the area despite repeated requests.

The housewife says: 'When my friend visited me, she asked if my neighbour was operating a shoe shop.' She is moving out this September.

Such long-drawn festering disputes are common, say MPs, and leave little hope for reconciliation as the warring parties are no longer on speaking terms.

For Ms Perdicha Chen, she has taken to snapping pictures of the birds and recording their chirping to use as evidence for the police.

'We don't want to go to the extent of meeting them in court,' she says. 'I just hope they put their birds away and give everyone some peace.'