SINGAPORE: Foreign tenants in an HDB Maisonette have allegedly been hosting karaoke sessions at 2 am every two weeks despite multiple warnings from the police.
This ongoing disturbance has pushed one frustrated neighbour to seek advice on handling the situation, turning to r/askSingapore for help.
In his post, he explained that even though he lived two floors down from the foreign tenants, he could still hear their drunken antics, loud conversations, and karaoke sessions.
“Both of us have open balconies; hence, the noise is amplified. The worst is that they will karaoke and although they closed their windows, it’s not soundproof at all; we can very much hear them and it vibrates through our rooms,” the resident said.
“Have confronted them on separate occasions many times. They will stop only when told. Have also called the police many times, and they have intervened a few times as well (police also acknowledged that their noise level is too much),” the resident added.
The resident said they have been putting up with this raucous behaviour for several months with no sign of it stopping.
He then asked the others in the community, “What can I do in this situation? I have been nice enough but there’s just no consideration from them at all, it’s too much.”
“go CMC for mediation and if mediation fails, go CDRT ”
One Singaporean Redditor offered a detailed strategy for dealing with the ongoing noise issue in the comments section. He advised the frustrated neighbour to start by measuring the noise levels within his unit and documenting his interactions with the foreigners above.
This evidence would show that he has genuinely tried to address the disturbance politely. Following this, the next step would be to approach the Community Mediation Centre (CMC), which aims to help resolve the dispute amicably.
If mediation fails to resolve the issue, the resident should then escalate the matter to the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals (CDRT) to file a formal claim. Alternatively, the Redditor suggested calling the Singapore Police Force (SPF) non-emergency hotline for advice.
The Redditor also recommended considering practical solutions such as installing dual-panel windows or soundproofing the room for immediate relief.
Another advised the resident to make another attempt to speak with the neighbours, but this time ensuring the conversation was heard by other units.
He wrote, “Go bang the door first. Make a big fuss; ensure all neighbors know it is this family. They call the police better. Make it to the news. Next, ask relevant agencies what sort of law is there to deter this from happening again.
If this keeps happening again, the next step is to take extreme measures against them.”
A third Redditor suggested enlisting help from the other units. She said, “Since it’s foreigners and the sound is that extreme, you should knock on your neighbors doors and exchange numbers.
The next time it happens, a filled corridor of angry sleepy neighbors has a better effect than just you or a pair of NSF police.”
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