Man clutters corridor of Sengkang HDB flat for years, prompting complaint from several neighbours

Some residents of 178C Rivervale Crescent in Sengkang are fed up with a man who has been cluttering the corridor of the 14th floor for some years, prompting a joint complaint from seven of them.

Shin Min Daily News reported in May 2022 that the man had placed many personal belongings, such as tables, chairs and potted plants, along the corridor, occupying the public space.

In that same year, a Facebook user had posted on the Complaint Singapore group page about the situation, sarcastically writing: "This is a compliment to Sengkang Town Council (SKTC) for allowing the use of the common corridor."

The now-deleted post added that one can install "bird hanging wall inserts, camera, chilling out table and pets corner", referring to the man's alleged deeds.

Two years on and the situation is persisting and has even gotten worse, according to a neighbour interviewed by Shin Min in an Aug 31 report.

The unnamed woman said that residents from four other units on the 14th floor and three on the 15th floor have signed a joint letter to the town council asking them to deal with the retiree, named by the Chinese daily as Hong, 61.

The neighbour also said the hanging bird cages posed a falling risk and safety hazard, and that some of the cages were hanging close to her kitchen, posing a hindrance with the sound of birds and the smell of their dropping. 

She alleged that bird feathers have also drifted into her kitchen occasionally.

A Shin Min reporter also noted that a length of the corridor was full of bird cages, tables and chairs, potted plants, bicycles and other items.

The resident added that SKTC had made numerous visits to Hong, but he ignored them.

In response to a Stomp query in 2022, SKTC said that they had been dealing with the issue of obstruction by the resident since 2021 and "efforts in mitigating the obstruction have unfortunately proven to be futile".

"Although the owner of the items had attempted to remove his belongings which were placed along the common corridor, along with the bird cages at the various spots outside of his unit of residence, the issue of obstruction appears to be a recurring one," they added.

However, Shin Min reported in their recent article that Hong claimed the neighbours had unfairly targeted him and there was nothing wrong with his actions.

Hong said that the tables and chairs placed in the corridor can be used by other residents as well while waiting for the lift and that the potted plants he had placed left the mandated 1.2m of space in the corridor. 

"When [the neighbours] moved in, they saw that there were birds here. If they couldn't stand it, they shouldn't have lived here," Hong said. "Now that they are here, they should be tolerant of others."

He also claimed that his bird cages were approved by SKTC.

AsiaOne has reached out to SKTC for more information.

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drimac@asiaone.com