Man who rented a room wants to leave after 2 weeks because of curry smell

SINGAPORE: A man took to social media seeking advice because he rented a room in Singapore without seeing it first. He booked the room while he was still overseas, and less than a month later, he already wanted to leave. As u/Famous-Brilliant6813 wrote on r/askSingapore on Monday (Oct 24), “I rented a room without viewing in-person and now I want to bail.” He explained that he had signed a lease valid for six months with a landlord, adding, “Because I was moving directly from overseas, I needed a place before I landed and hence didn’t get a chance to see it in person.”

However, two weeks after he had moved into the room, he already wanted to leave because of the smells from his fellow tenants’ cooking. “I find that as tolerant and patient as I am, the tenants do a lot of heavy cooking of curries and as a result, the smell has seeped into my room slowly,” he added.

The post author added that he’d tried several solutions to address the problem, including using a diffuser and a Thirsty Hippo—a dehumidifier/moisture absorber that also acts against smells—as well as an air freshener, but claims that the cooking smell has pervaded his space so much that it makes him feel ill.

He also describes his fellow tenants as “truly nice people” with whom he gets along well. The post author also refuses to ask them to cook something else, saying this behaviour would be unkind.

Some commenters on u/Famous-Brilliant6813’s post have suggested more ways to eliminate the smells from his room, including sealing off his door with tape and getting a draft excluder for the bottom of his door. Others suggested a filter or fan that can do positive pressure ventilation. Lighting candles also appeared to help one Reddit user. One said the post author could get a big box of baking soda or a bag of charcoal for his room.

Others suggested a dialogue with his fellow tenants—such as suggesting they open windows when they cook or getting a pressure cooker that seals in the smells from the cooking.

Unfortunately, there appears to be no way for the man to break his contract, and a few Reddit users told him that he can leave as long as he pays the landlord whose room he sublet for the six-month duration of the contract. /TISG

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