Man annoyed at neighbour’s children for being noisy, threw luncheon meat in the hallway to wish them bad luck

SINGAPORE: Who would’ve thought that luncheon meat can cause bad luck? Well, an annoyed man really did push past his limits and scattered luncheon meat all over a hallway, hoping to bring bad luck to his Muslim neighbors because of their noisy children. Unfortunately, he was sentenced to prison for his actions. 

The 36-year-old suspect pleaded guilty to one charge of violating the Religious Harmony Act, and one charge of harassment. With this, he will serve 14 weeks in prison. 

Case details

According to investigations reported by Lianhe Zaobao, the suspect lived in the Woodlands area, and his neighbours were Malays. The neighbors’ children, ages 4 and 7, would often play in the hallway and make noise, making it unbearable for the suspect. 

Initially, the suspect reported his concerns to a community patrol officer to seek help, and the situation improved for quite some time. However, the children started playing on the common corridor again in October 2025, on the day of Deepavali. Due to the noise, the suspect needed to cancel a gathering that was supposed to happen at his home. 

Because of the repeat scenario, the suspect contacted the community patrol officer to report, but remained unsatisfied with his neighbours’ behaviour, believing that they had not taken active steps to improve the situation. 

Knowing that his Muslim neighbours do not eat pork, the suspect then threw luncheon meat into his neighbours’ house to express his anger. Feeling that it was not enough, the suspect ultimately decided to open the can of luncheon meat, pour the meat in the hallway, and smear it all over the floor. 

Afterwards, the suspect called the police himself and admitted that he wanted to throw the canned meat to his neighbors’ house.

When the police questioned the scattered meat on the ground, the suspect claimed that the neighbors’ kids might have found it, stepped on it by mistake, and take it home.

When the neighbors’ knew about the make-up story, they got very angry and felt that the suspect did not respect their religion. 

Other related news

In similar news regarding inappropriate conduct, there was a report where a man set fire to the garbage chute in his HDB flat as a joke, claiming that he was being chased by creditors and wanting to frame them.

The suspect now faces four charges of mischievous arson and one count of intentional assault. 

Read more about the news article here.