SINGAPORE: In space-scarce Singapore, one’s neighbours can make the difference between having a home that feels like heaven and one that can be quite the opposite. Horror stories abound of residents who’ve complained about “neighbours from hell.”
One local Reddit user took to the platform with such a story, saying that since their family moved into their new BTO around nine months ago, the people living in the unit directly above theirs “have been making thumping and hammering noise nonstop for the past six months after completing their renovation.”
While the post author claimed the sounds are “borderline construction noises,” the neighbours have said they’re due to their or their kids’ footsteps.
According to u/Direct-Lifeguard-346’s post earlier this week, their upstairs neighbours make noises from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., when people reasonably want some peace and quiet. In contrast, they are silent between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The first time this happened, they went upstairs to ask their neighbours about the noises, and the neighbours said it must have come from another unit since they were putting their toddlers to sleep at the time. However, their stories have allegedly changed more than once since then.
The post author has even played back recordings of the noise to the neighbours, and even offered to give them slips to give their children and suggested foam floor mats to lessen the noises the toddlers make.
The neighbours allegedly responded by saying things like, “So you’re asking us not to walk around my own house? You cannot force us to do things we do not like. You are affecting our lifestyle.”
At one point, when they knocked on the neighbours’ door at 4 a.m. because of the noise, the neighbours did not respond and later even used the incident to say the post author’s family was harassing them.
The post author asked Reddit users for help, saying they’ve called the non-emergency hotline and are waiting for their MP to come to their estate.
Commenters have been very sympathetic, but solutions are hard to come by, aside from suggestions of “fighting fire with fire,” such as buying a “ceiling thumper” so the post author can somehow retaliate when the noises occur.
One Reddit user said that they had this problem for five years when a helper in the unit above them had a very heavy tread. This only changed when the elderly man the helper was taking care of passed away, and the maid was transferred.
“One troublemaker can really ruin our mental state,” the commenter added.
“Feels bad for the both of you, though. Everybody wants peace and rest at night. Wish they still built larger, sturdier homes like the old HUDC estates,” another wrote. /TISG