Disputes between neighbours increasing
BY GINNIE TEO
DISPUTES between neighbours are increasing, say lawyers, police
and the courts. More people are taking matters into their own hands, and
taking these squabbles to court.
Last year, 265 such complaints were filed with the subordinate courts; 12 more than the 253 in 1996, which, in turn, was 10 more than in 1995.
The most common reasons: public nuisance, causing mischief, simple assault and using abusive language, a court spokesman said.
The triggers: late-night showers, smelly socks left outside or joss paper dirtying a shared corridor.
How trivial, one might say, but some squabbles end in tragedy.
In one case, an elderly woman shouted abuse at her neighbour, a factory supervisor, and hit him with a broom. When she lifted the broom again, he shoved her away and she fell down the stairs to her death.
Other disputes stew and simmer into family feuds.
Lawyer Mervyn Tan related a case of two neighbours, who so hated each other that they smeared human waste on each other's doors and fouled each other's laundry with urine.
Lawyers and police officers confirmed the trend. More people know their legal rights now, they said.
Miss Jennifer Lim, a lawyer for six years, handled more than 15 such cases last year. "It's the most I've ever done in a year," she said.
Most times, a disgruntled neighbour just calls the nearest police post.
Senior Staff Sergeant K. Madary Nair, deputy officer-in-charge at the Nee Soon East NPP, said it handles about five complaints a week. Such cases were rare before, she observed, adding: "Five years ago, we received complaints about once or twice a week, and sometimes none at all!
"When I give talks at schools, I ask the children how many of their parents are not on good terms with their neighbours. I'm always surprised when half of them put up their hands."
She said: "People don't try to talk it out first. Straightaway, they call the police."
Who fights? Usually, next-door neighbours.
What triggers the squabbles? "Anything!" said Inspector Tan Boon Heng, who is in charge of NPPs at the Ang Mo Kio Police Divisional Headquarters.
It could be rubbish thrown from a kitchen window, dog droppings left in a common area or flower pots getting in a neighbour's way.
Why can't neighbours live in peace? Because people are moving house more often and don't really get to know their neighbours, said urban sociologist Ho Kong Chong, a National University of Singapore senior lecturer.
He said: "The typical HDB family moves into a flat, lives there for five years and then sells it to realise capital gains. There isn't enough time for them to forge a relationship with their neighbours.
"Also, people are spending less time at home and more at work. It's a social change."
Ang Mo Kio Police Station's Insp Tan noted that many of the combative neighbours were newcomers to HDB estates.
"Some were staying in private estates and moved into HDB flats. They find the flats too small and noisy, very different from private estates."
NUS Associate Professor Lim Lan Yuan, head of the School of Building and Real Estate and a mediator with eight years' experience said that affluence often breeds intolerance "of any form of discomfort or nuisance".
He added: "People have to learn to live as good neighbours, which is not easy for some."