Man in Singapore spends S$800 engaging company to collect evidence against noisy neighbours
A man living near Holland Village reportedly spent over S$800 to collect evidence against his ‘noisy’ upstairs neighbours.
According to Shin Min Daily, 47-year-old Mr Qiu (surname transliterated from Chinese) has lived with his 85-year-old mother at a flat along Jalan Merah Saga for over 40 years.
Six years ago, they began hearing noises from upstairs. These include:
- Heavy footsteps
- Dragging of chairs
- Smashing of objects
Mr Qiu said the noise occurred daily and throughout the entire day, even waking him up from his sleep at night.
The 47-year-old told the Chinese newspaper that two elderly sisters stayed in the unit above them.
Mr Qiu said both parties attended a mediation session to address the issue, but the sisters denied making the noise.
To resolve the situation, Mr Qiu even sent the sisters text messages reminding them not to be noisy.
He also suggested that they wear slippers at home — a suggestion the sisters allegedly accepted but did little to address the noise issue.
Hired recording company to collect evidence
Even though Mr Qiu did not want to take legal action against the sisters, he was determined to collect evidence against them.
To do this, he spent over S$800 engaging a recording company to document the noise from his house.
Source: Shin Min Daily
The recording, which went from 5am to 2pm, reportedly captured the sounds of moving chairs, footsteps, knocking, and impact of heavy objects.
These sounds occurred at least twice every hour, with the highest volume recorded at 57 decibels — loud enough to disturb someone trying to fall asleep.
Mr Qiu speculated that his upstairs neighbours spend prolonged periods at home and would engage in activities such as rope skipping and dancing.
He said he did not want to cause a rift as his mother knew the sisters, so he did not complain initially.
However, he alerted the authorities after hearing up to 500 footsteps within a day during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hoping to solve the problem, Mr Qiu also installed a false ceiling and soundproofed his home three years ago, but they proved futile in keeping out the noise.
Source: Shin Min Daily
“My mother has a bit of dementia and her hearing is not very good, but she was woken up by the noise twice and screamed in the middle of the night,” Mr Qiu claimed.
As for Mr Qiu, he would at times go for strolls when the noise kept him awake.
Besides preventing him from sleeping well, the noise has also made him easily irritable.
Elderly sisters deny making noise
When a Shin Min Daily reporter visited the unit above Mr Qiu’s apartment, a lady wearing indoor slippers answered the door.
Identified as Ms Cai, the 80-year-old insisted she and her sister — who is in her 70s — did not make any noise.
“We are also wronged,” Ms Cai claimed. She also questioned, “If he finds the source, will he clear our names?”
Ms Cai explained that while she usually skips rope, she does so at the void deck or the park and never inside her unit.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News and Google Maps.Â
