Family sleeps in living room after enduring 4 years of knocking noise from neighbour; they also received arson threats if they complained

SINGAPORE: A 41-year-old woman recently said that four years of constant knocking noise from the people living in the flat above hers had forced her and her parents to sleep in their living room instead of their bedrooms.

A Lianhe Zaobao report on Friday (Aug 9) quotes Su Ming Hui as saying that the knocking noise at their flat at Block 486 Choa Chu Kang Avenue 5 occurs at two separate times neatly every day: from 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning and, more disturbingly, from 10:00 pm to 1:00 am the next day, which understandably affects the family’s sleep.

She described the noises made as sounding like knocking on floor tiles. The daily disturbance started in 2020, Ms Su, who’s been living in the flat for two decades, told the Chinese daily.

“We can’t rest,” she said. She and her parents have since been using a mattress and a sofa bed in the living room to try to get some sleep at night.

What is puzzling is that when she spoke to two neighbours living on the floor above hers concerning the loud knocking sounds, each one said that they were not the ones responsible for the noises.

Ms Su also said neighbours had moved in and out in the past four years, but the knocking sounds continued. The family has even resorted to informing the authorities about the situation, but to no avail.

“We called the police and wanted to collect evidence to bring them to court, but we had to give up after we couldn’t prove who made the noise,” Ms Su told Lianhe Zaobao.

To cope with the noise, Ms Su and her parents have been keeping the radio on, as they prefer it to the bothersome knocking sounds. “In order not to be scared by the noise, we would rather listen to radio broadcasts and music every day,” she said.

However, she also added that when she complained about the noise, she received two letters telling her that if she ever “disturbed” her neighbours again, her home would be burned down. Screenshots of the letters have been published by Lianhe Zaobao.

However, there appears to be good news for Ms Su, as it was announced on Monday (Aug 12) that a new government unit with the power to investigate severe neighbour noise disputes is in the pipeline.

The Community Relations Unit (CRU) can deploy noise sensors. /TISG

Read also: HDB-dwellers, how do you guys deal with noise of construction, and renovation? — Resident asks