SINGAPORE: A resident of Potong Pasir took to Facebook to rant about his neighbour: an elderly uncle who hit the wall “day and night” with a stick in retaliation to any noise he hears from other neighbours.
The resident, a single individual staying alone at Block 144 Potong Pasir on the 4th floor, is a stroke survivor discharged a year ago on April 22. The resident reported that “the nightmare of noise abuse” started on Sept 22, 2022, and happens every day sporadically from 5.20 am to midnight in hourly intervals.
“The unit below bang hourly unexpectedly and each bang is quite unpredictable and loud that sometimes it can make your skin crawl and heath feel very painfully shock,” the resident wrote in a Facebook post.
“The now latest trend started 2-3 plus in the morning also bang. These bangs are sometimes taunting sound like purposely bang to irritate,” he further explained.
The resident admitted that although he hit and shouted back initially, he could not keep that up for long as he’s recovering from a stroke and doing so will result in shortness of breath.
“My left leg was affected by the stroke and I have problems on movement that resulted me to be restricted to home only,” he wrote, adding that he only leaves the house for doctor’s appointments in a wheelchair.
“In the end, I just bear with it and let unit bang and bang as he pleases,” the resident said when he finally gave in.
The resident had taken steps to put an end to this and has made complaints to the police before. He shared that on Feb 23 this year, he received a call from HDB “claiming that I was the noise maker.” He clarified with the officer that he is a stroke survivor living alone and not the person causing the noise.
The officer then gave the resident the contact of the unit number to settle the matter amongst themselves. However, it did not go according to plan.
The resident called the uncle to find out what exactly was causing his irritation if perhaps it was the wheel-walker which was causing a lot of noise.
“He said I’m disrupting his pleasure of watching his DVD in his bedroom. Actually, when he came up to my unit and blasting his DVD from his room, we both cannot hear the DVD playing noise,” the resident recalled.
“He also noticed my movement was quite restricted to moving around properly so how I can create those noises in the evening,” the resident asked.
The resident also said that the uncle refused to admit that it was unlikely the resident was behind the noise.
“He cannot show me where the noise was created by me and he say if I record myself in the bedroom to prove I’m innocence. I mean seriously? Recording of me to how I lay in the bed or changing clothes naked to prove I am innocent? Is his head spoilt?” the annoyed resident wrote.
The confrontation between both parties ended with the uncle saying he would retaliate whenever he heard any disturbing sounds, regardless of who it was from. The resident believes the uncle needs to have his mental health checked in a hospital.
“I’m speechless to how to defend my innocence,” said the resident.
The resident also said that the opposite unit had already used the same clip to bring him to court, but he was let off with a warning.
“I’m so out of ideas to how to settle this. I have called the police before but the police only say if he do it again call them,” says the resident, feeling defeated.
Fellow Facebook users took to the comments section to provide their suggestions.
The Independent Singapore has reached out to the resident as well as Potong Pasir Town Council for comment.