One woman’s hoarding problem has gotten so bad over the years that the rubbish she hoards is now occupying the property of her neighbours.
She has also taken to hanging bags of plastic bottles and cans on a tree in front of Block 135 Yishun Street 11, where she lives in a ground-floor unit.
Residents in the area say she has had this problem for more than a decade, and that not even her son’s pleas have succeeded in getting her to stop piling plastic items and cardboard boxes outside her unit.
A July 8 report in Shin Min Daily News showed a photo of the “rubbish tree” the woman, who is in her 80s, had “decorated.”
It showed large plastic bags filled with items hanging from the tree, and bags of rubbish can also be seen in the surrounding area.
The problem is no longer contained within the woman’s property but has also affected her neighbours. Because the corner unit on her floor is now empty, she has taken to piling boxes there as well, one neighbour told Shin Min Daily News.
The neighbour added that the woman’s hoarded items have reached her own unit and that she is concerned over mice making a home there.
And while the woman’s fellow residents have asked her to stop hoarding, the auntie has not complied.
Authorities have taken to checking up on the woman’s situation often, and removing the rubbish found there when needed.
Shin Min Daily News reported that Nee Soon Town Council is aware of the issue. The Town Council said it would collaborate with residents’ committees to help the residents affected by the woman’s hoarding.
The situation has also gotten to the point that the woman’s neighbours are now “used to it,” as one resident told the Chinese daily.
Efforts to clear up the hoarding have not met long-term success either, since the woman simply begins hoarding shortly after the items are taken away.
In 2020, the hallway outside the auntie’s flat was cleared at least five times, STOMP reported.
However, the problem has persisted.
The surroundings of the woman’s flat were most recently cleared on July 6.
Hoarding is a mental health condition.
“People with hoarding disorder have persistent difficulty getting rid of or parting with possessions due to a perceived need to save the items. Attempts to part with possessions create considerable distress and lead to decisions to save them,” says psychiatry.org. /TISG
Nee Soon resident complains for 2 years about neighbour’s hoarding issue yet ‘nothing is done’