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'Naked sushi' club founder's late and loud parties irk neighbours
The New Paper
Thursday, Jan 05, 2012
A NEW Year's Eve party in the Holland Village neighbourhood caused such a stir that police had to be called in at two in the morning.
It was the sixth time in the past 10 months that Dr Denisa Kera's next-door neighbour, Mr Ivan Loh and his wife, called in the police.
They said the noise was too much to bear.
They are not the only ones who are complaining. At least two other neighbours said they were unhappy over the noise.
According to Mr Loh, Dr Kera's parties - which often last into the wee hours of the morning - caused such a ruckus that his family, which includes his 10-month-old daughter, has trouble sleeping.
But her parties are only part of the problem.
"Even when she plays music or has one or two friends over, we can hear everything from our home.
"That's fine, except that when it goes past 10 or 11 in the nightand we can't sleep," said an exasperated Mr Loh, 41, a photographer.
Dr Kera, 36, who is from Prague, is teaching at the National University of Singapore as an assistant professor at the school's Department of Communications and New Media.
She and co-founder of the Secret Cooks Club, Frenchman Florian Cornu, 26, made headlines last year when they organised a dinner where diners ate sushi off a naked woman.
Secret Cooks Club, which meets once a month with about 20 guests each time, is part of a growing trend which hit the local dining scene over the past couple of years.
The club invites members of the public to sign up and collects donations for the dinners, which have different themes and locations.
Last May's dinner, attended by six professionals who did not know each other, was inspired by Nyotaimori, the Japanese practice of serving sashimi or sushi on the body of a woman, typically naked.
A previous report said that the dinner took place at a private home in Holland Village.
Dr Kera, who lives in Jalan Kuning in Chip Bee Gardens, declined to confirm this yesterday, saying that the club's activities and the dispute with her neighbours were two separate issues.
But she acknowledged that two of the club's dinners were held at her home, a state-owned inter-terrace house managed by landlord JTC Corporation (JTC).
Mr Loh, who has lived in his home for the past seven years and is currently renting it for $3,900 a month, said that problems began in February or March last year.
"It's always been a rather quiet neighbourhood and that's one of the reasons we like living here.
The noise spoils that.
"There were times (when) we heard glass being broken and men railing away outside her home at 6am."
Dining club
He got angrier after finding out that she was running the dining club.
"She was already intruding into our lifestyle and on top of that, she is running what, to me, resembles running a business, " he said.
He added that the frequent loud chatter and music played from Dr Kera's home prompted him to confront her on two to three occasions, but an agreement could not be reached.
"When my wife went over to ask her to lower her music volume, she said we must be lunatics.
"We had an exchange of words, which ended up with both parties not being very happy. Subsequently, I decided to call the police," he said.
Dr Kera looked distressed when asked for her side of the story.
She said: "I did apologise, but I feel that she (Mr Loh's wife) has become more and more intolerant because I have a different lifestyle, and the dispute has escalated."
She added: "I respect it when her baby cries at 11pm.
"(But) how am I supposed to make peace with them when they come over here screaming and threatening that they will do all they can to get me kicked out?"
Dr Kera's other neighbours said that it is understandable for parties to last late into the night if it is a festive occasion, such as New Year's Eve or Chinese New Year.
The problem is that the parties are sometimes held on week nights, said human resources manager Roman Matla, who lives in a terrace home directly opposite Dr Kera.
"I think she has every right to hold parties in her home. In fact, we often hold parties in ours - but when we do, we tell our neighbours about it and invite them to come," he said with a chuckle.
"It starts getting difficult when the party is on a Tuesday night on a random week and lasts till about 3.30am and guests sit outside the house, talking and laughing.
"I would be all right with it if after about 10 at night, they took everything inside the house and closed the windows," said the father of two children.
Another neighbour, who wanted to be known only as Mr Ng and lives two houses away from Dr Kera, added: "My wife and two daughters wake me up when they cannot take it. We try to endure it till after 10 or 11 at night, before SMSing JTC."
Dr Kera declined to elaborate, mentioning that she will be meeting JTC today to try to see what she can do to settle the dispute.
Mr Loh said he plans to seek further help from his MP to solve the problem. [RT: Hosay liao lah Mr Loh, your MP Vivian Bala prohibits table top dancing!]
This article was first published in The New Paper.
The New Paper
Thursday, Jan 05, 2012
A NEW Year's Eve party in the Holland Village neighbourhood caused such a stir that police had to be called in at two in the morning.
It was the sixth time in the past 10 months that Dr Denisa Kera's next-door neighbour, Mr Ivan Loh and his wife, called in the police.
They said the noise was too much to bear.
They are not the only ones who are complaining. At least two other neighbours said they were unhappy over the noise.
According to Mr Loh, Dr Kera's parties - which often last into the wee hours of the morning - caused such a ruckus that his family, which includes his 10-month-old daughter, has trouble sleeping.
But her parties are only part of the problem.
"Even when she plays music or has one or two friends over, we can hear everything from our home.
"That's fine, except that when it goes past 10 or 11 in the nightand we can't sleep," said an exasperated Mr Loh, 41, a photographer.
Dr Kera, 36, who is from Prague, is teaching at the National University of Singapore as an assistant professor at the school's Department of Communications and New Media.
She and co-founder of the Secret Cooks Club, Frenchman Florian Cornu, 26, made headlines last year when they organised a dinner where diners ate sushi off a naked woman.
Secret Cooks Club, which meets once a month with about 20 guests each time, is part of a growing trend which hit the local dining scene over the past couple of years.
The club invites members of the public to sign up and collects donations for the dinners, which have different themes and locations.
Last May's dinner, attended by six professionals who did not know each other, was inspired by Nyotaimori, the Japanese practice of serving sashimi or sushi on the body of a woman, typically naked.
A previous report said that the dinner took place at a private home in Holland Village.
Dr Kera, who lives in Jalan Kuning in Chip Bee Gardens, declined to confirm this yesterday, saying that the club's activities and the dispute with her neighbours were two separate issues.
But she acknowledged that two of the club's dinners were held at her home, a state-owned inter-terrace house managed by landlord JTC Corporation (JTC).
Mr Loh, who has lived in his home for the past seven years and is currently renting it for $3,900 a month, said that problems began in February or March last year.
"It's always been a rather quiet neighbourhood and that's one of the reasons we like living here.
The noise spoils that.
"There were times (when) we heard glass being broken and men railing away outside her home at 6am."
Dining club
He got angrier after finding out that she was running the dining club.
"She was already intruding into our lifestyle and on top of that, she is running what, to me, resembles running a business, " he said.
He added that the frequent loud chatter and music played from Dr Kera's home prompted him to confront her on two to three occasions, but an agreement could not be reached.
"When my wife went over to ask her to lower her music volume, she said we must be lunatics.
"We had an exchange of words, which ended up with both parties not being very happy. Subsequently, I decided to call the police," he said.
Dr Kera looked distressed when asked for her side of the story.
She said: "I did apologise, but I feel that she (Mr Loh's wife) has become more and more intolerant because I have a different lifestyle, and the dispute has escalated."
She added: "I respect it when her baby cries at 11pm.
"(But) how am I supposed to make peace with them when they come over here screaming and threatening that they will do all they can to get me kicked out?"
Dr Kera's other neighbours said that it is understandable for parties to last late into the night if it is a festive occasion, such as New Year's Eve or Chinese New Year.
The problem is that the parties are sometimes held on week nights, said human resources manager Roman Matla, who lives in a terrace home directly opposite Dr Kera.
"I think she has every right to hold parties in her home. In fact, we often hold parties in ours - but when we do, we tell our neighbours about it and invite them to come," he said with a chuckle.
"It starts getting difficult when the party is on a Tuesday night on a random week and lasts till about 3.30am and guests sit outside the house, talking and laughing.
"I would be all right with it if after about 10 at night, they took everything inside the house and closed the windows," said the father of two children.
Another neighbour, who wanted to be known only as Mr Ng and lives two houses away from Dr Kera, added: "My wife and two daughters wake me up when they cannot take it. We try to endure it till after 10 or 11 at night, before SMSing JTC."
Dr Kera declined to elaborate, mentioning that she will be meeting JTC today to try to see what she can do to settle the dispute.
Mr Loh said he plans to seek further help from his MP to solve the problem. [RT: Hosay liao lah Mr Loh, your MP Vivian Bala prohibits table top dancing!]
This article was first published in The New Paper.
