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WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH
Neighbours put up with stench for years
By Benson Ang
June 27, 2009
FOR 30 years, this family has put up with the rubbish and the stench coming from their neighbour's three-room flat in Telok Blangah Rise.
They have to keep their windows shut even when they are at home. They avoid going out of their flat because the stench is overpowering.
And when they eat, they try their best to ignore the smell, often to no avail.
'It smells so disgusting I feel like vomiting,' said Mr Leong Cheow Yeow, 80, who lives on the 13th floor of Block 42.
The retiree lives there with his wife, Madam Tam Ah Yuke, 74, and their youngest son, who is in his 30s.
The situation has become worse over the years.
They said they feared that the rubbish inside might be a fire hazard.
The New Paper visited the flat on Wednesday and found it so filled with rubbish that it was impossible to walk from one end to another.
There are baby napkins, tins of butter-cookies, empty food-containers, books, old newspapers, plastic bags and even sachets of 3-in-1 coffee mix lying around.
They are in piles that reach almost to the top of the ceiling of the flat, and the floor cannot be seen.
Several of the flat's window panes are broken, and there are flies buzzing around. A foul smell hung thick in the air.
HEAP: (Top) View of the HDB flat from front door. (Above) Mr Leong Cheow Yeow, one of the long- suffering neighbours. --PICTURES: BENSON ANG
The front door is held shut only by a piece of raffia string. The owner of the flat wasn't in.
But according to Mr Leong, she is a woman in her 40s who has lived there for about 20 years.
She comes back to the flat about three times a week. Mr Leong describes her as being very thin, with thinning hair and a hunched back.
She can speak English, Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese.
Mr Leong said the woman told them that she has two sons doing national service, and that she is separated from her husband.
However, both Mr Leong and Madam Tam have never seen her sons or husband.
Mr Leong claimed that 10 years ago his family helped the woman to sell the rubbish in her flat to a rag-and-bone man. She got over $60 for it.
However, they said that after that incident, the woman continued to accumulate items in her flat.
Mr Leong said he had approached a cleaning company to clear the mess, but decided not to engage its services after the company estimated that it would take $500 to clear the flat.
Poor
He also claimed that whenever the woman returns to the flat, she asks him for $10 to buy food.
'I always give it to her because she looks so poor, with nobody to take pity on her,' said Mr Leong.
He added that she thanked him in return, and often said 'God bless you' to him.
Mr Leong said he has previously paid for the woman's subscription to Rediffusion, a subscription radio service.
The woman is also epileptic and suffers from fits occasionally. During these fits, sometimes in the middle of the night, she would bang on his window panes and ask Mr Leong's family to help her.
However, this could not be independently verified.
Madam Tam claimed that she has called an ambulance for the woman, and instructed taxis to take her to hospital on several occasions.
According to Mr Leong, the woman came back on Tuesday night, and spent the night in the flat.
He added that she slept in a corner, just behind the door, on top of the rubbish.
WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH
Neighbours put up with stench for years
By Benson Ang
June 27, 2009
FOR 30 years, this family has put up with the rubbish and the stench coming from their neighbour's three-room flat in Telok Blangah Rise.
They have to keep their windows shut even when they are at home. They avoid going out of their flat because the stench is overpowering.
And when they eat, they try their best to ignore the smell, often to no avail.
'It smells so disgusting I feel like vomiting,' said Mr Leong Cheow Yeow, 80, who lives on the 13th floor of Block 42.
The retiree lives there with his wife, Madam Tam Ah Yuke, 74, and their youngest son, who is in his 30s.
The situation has become worse over the years.
They said they feared that the rubbish inside might be a fire hazard.
The New Paper visited the flat on Wednesday and found it so filled with rubbish that it was impossible to walk from one end to another.
There are baby napkins, tins of butter-cookies, empty food-containers, books, old newspapers, plastic bags and even sachets of 3-in-1 coffee mix lying around.
They are in piles that reach almost to the top of the ceiling of the flat, and the floor cannot be seen.
Several of the flat's window panes are broken, and there are flies buzzing around. A foul smell hung thick in the air.
HEAP: (Top) View of the HDB flat from front door. (Above) Mr Leong Cheow Yeow, one of the long- suffering neighbours. --PICTURES: BENSON ANG
The front door is held shut only by a piece of raffia string. The owner of the flat wasn't in.
But according to Mr Leong, she is a woman in her 40s who has lived there for about 20 years.
She comes back to the flat about three times a week. Mr Leong describes her as being very thin, with thinning hair and a hunched back.
She can speak English, Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese.
Mr Leong said the woman told them that she has two sons doing national service, and that she is separated from her husband.
However, both Mr Leong and Madam Tam have never seen her sons or husband.
Mr Leong claimed that 10 years ago his family helped the woman to sell the rubbish in her flat to a rag-and-bone man. She got over $60 for it.
However, they said that after that incident, the woman continued to accumulate items in her flat.
Mr Leong said he had approached a cleaning company to clear the mess, but decided not to engage its services after the company estimated that it would take $500 to clear the flat.
Poor
He also claimed that whenever the woman returns to the flat, she asks him for $10 to buy food.
'I always give it to her because she looks so poor, with nobody to take pity on her,' said Mr Leong.
He added that she thanked him in return, and often said 'God bless you' to him.
Mr Leong said he has previously paid for the woman's subscription to Rediffusion, a subscription radio service.
The woman is also epileptic and suffers from fits occasionally. During these fits, sometimes in the middle of the night, she would bang on his window panes and ask Mr Leong's family to help her.
However, this could not be independently verified.
Madam Tam claimed that she has called an ambulance for the woman, and instructed taxis to take her to hospital on several occasions.
According to Mr Leong, the woman came back on Tuesday night, and spent the night in the flat.
He added that she slept in a corner, just behind the door, on top of the rubbish.
