Ang Mo Kio resident blocks corridor & lift with old sofa, receives notes from neighbours asking ‘Why choose to be a lowlife?’

SINGAPORE — If you leave an old couch in front of the elevator that services the residents on your floor, you can expect your neighbours to be very unhappy. One Ang Mo Kio resident discarded a grey and black sofa with only three legs in this way, blocking access to the lift and its adjoining corridor.

That resident’s neighbours understandably went into action, posting notes for the sofa owner in English and Chinese. A Facebook user took photos of the abandoned sofa with attached irate notes from neighbours and then posted them on the popular COMPLAINT SINGAPORE page on Monday (Jan 16).

The note in Chinese was particularly barbed and ended with a question about the couch discarder’s character.

“In society, there’re people of high and low status, but there’s no lowliness or nobility in character. As such, why would you choose to be a lowlife?” an anonymous resident wrote.

As for the note in English, it looked like it could have been equally effective, aiming at the sofa owner.

”I write to protest the grave inconsiderate act of yours. I comprehend you are probably weighed down by a scarcity mindset and tunnel vision and that is why you are so poor. Your wanton attitude and inconsiderate mannerism put you at risk of making bad choices that feed your poverty cycle.”

Perhaps what is more important is that “our neighbours that are physically challenged cannot have access to the lift lobby” and that the “discarded sofa is a fire hazard.”

The neighbour also wrote that while the sofa owner “may be poor” this is not an excuse to behave like a persona non grata,” as “that is both unacceptable and wrong.”

The Facebooker kept his post uncommented and appears to have taken it down or changed the privacy settings. Therefore, it cannot be determined at this point what action has been taken.

Common area clutter is not uncommon in Singapore. In August 2021, one netizen took to social media to expose an “Irresponsible Neighbour” who put six fish tanks in the common area.

In another example from July of that year, a woman returned to a flat she owned and was shocked at the number of things that had accumulated there. After she posted about the mountainous clutter at this HDB common area, it cleared up quickly, leaving netizens shocked at the power of social media. /TISG

East Coast TC says it won’t hesitate ‘to take action’ should clutter remain at Bedok North corridor