Singapore — A woman from Tampines was given a $10,500 fine for harassing her neighbour from the same condominium.
Lee Soh Geok was caught on video pouring water numerous times from her unit, which was on the second-floor, onto the roof extension of the residence of Madam Helen Lim Hai Loon at Citylife @ Tampines.
Lee also made a lot of noise by loudly bouncing a basketball in her condominium unit many times as well. On one occasion, she bounced the ball for 45 minutes straight.
Under the Protection from Harassment Act, three charges were filed against Lee for incidents that occurred between Jan 29, 2019, and May 22, 2020.
But she had actually begun pouring water on her neighbour’s roof extension in 2016, the year it was built.
Between Jan 29, 2019, and May 21, 2020, his client recorded 123 instances of water-splashing and 39 instances of ball-bouncing causing loud noise in her unit.
CNA reports that Mdm Lim said she had lodged a dozen police reports against her neighbour during this period.
She took videos of her neighbour, who lives with her mother, pouring water on the roof of her home extension, and on some occasions, the water even flowed into her home.
Some incidents occurred past midnight.
On one occasion, two of Mdm Lim’s children shouted at Lee, asking her to stop pouring water. After this, Lee poured yet another bucket.
As of Jul, the water pouring was still ongoing, Mdm Lim’s lawyer said, adding that Lee’s “egregious behaviour… showed an absolute lack of remorse, and an attitude that she will continue to do so, despite this prosecution.”
In Jul, Lee said in the State Courts that she had poured the water to clean the roof extension, and even wanted to present bird faeces as evidence. But according to the submissions of Mr Luke Lee, the lawyer of Ms Lim, there was no such proof ever presented, and that her roof extension was kept clean.
Lee had also tried to get the extension removed and replaced with awnings that could be retracted, asking the condo management to do this. Moreover, she asked for her neighbours to pay for the cost of cleaning the roofs, a thrice-weekly occurrence costing S$600 per washing per unit.
But the condo management turned down these requests, as it did not find them reasonable.
Mdm Lim had complained about the loud basketball bouncing, which she said caused shaking in her whole unit. However, Lee ignored these complaints, saying that it was her right to do what she wanted in her own home.
Because of this, Mdm Lim suffered distress and harassment, her lawyer said, and asked for a fine of S$4,000 for each charge filed against Lee.
He added that his client was not seeking revenge, but only wanted the harassment to cease.
For each charge, Lee was fined by District Judge Salina Ishak S$3,500. The maximum fine Lee could have paid was S$5,000 per charge. /TISG
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