Neighbour's habit may ignite my flat. Advice please.

lunaaa

New Member
First of all, apologies if this doesn't seem like a very relevant place to seek advice. But I went to "Home and decor" forum and most of the threads are on renovation budget and COV.

Thought I'd come into the forums before I call my town council which I highly doubt will be of much help.

My fiance and I got the keys to our resale flat a few months ago. We have not moved in as there is no hurry. Our customary is in October this year and our renovation will only be completed in June.

So anyway, we drop by our humble love nest about once a week to collect letters, eat at the coffeeshop nearby and also chill at our place. We always notice that there would be cigarette butts (the cheap rolled kind) at the staircase leading to our unit. Ours is corner unit but not really corner-corner. There is one more unit opposite me - two metres away only) So you can imagine if you walk down that stairway, you will see two units and one of them is mine.

We are of course annoyed and pinned it down to the young men living above us. We have seen a few 18 to 21 year old guys sitting at the stairway, smoking and chatting.

Today we came back to our unit and noticed there were about 6 to 8 cigarette butts. There is also an empty cigarette box at another stairway (the one above us). Initially I wanted to report to my town council for such littering but I am really concerned if my flat will catch a fire due to the cigarette butts.

What should I do?

We aren't installing CCTV yet as renovation isn't done yet.

Even if we do install after renovation, won't the guys know it is us who complain to town council? They may do even worse things to our unit.

Please kindly advise. Will the chances of a fire igniting due to burnt cigarette butts be high and how will town council action?
 


ajumma

New Member
You can report them for littering, but I think it's unlikely that your unit will catch fire due to the cigarette butts on the stairway... unless there is paper lying around or other easily combustible material lying around...

The more likely cause of fire would be if the cigarette butts are thrown or blown into your house, such as if these people throw the cig butts out of their windows after smoking at home, which happens at my place and it burnt a hole in my curtain once. Now we just try not to open the windows too wide.
 

lunaaa

New Member
Report them to town council, NEA or police?

I really need to get this up as there is a chance my unit will catch fire and I don't want to leave it to chances. I've paid 50K for COV and will be renovating my place too. Too much money loss, pain and heartache if anything like that happens.

There is also paper flying around due to the many property advertisements being inserted in between the grilles of our gates. Many a time when we return to our unit, we saw paper on the ground due to the wind.
 

ajumma

New Member
Do you know the unit numbers of those people? If you do, you can report them to the town council and they should send someone down to give them a warning. But I think you should remind the officers at the TC to keep your identity confidential.
 

lunaaa

New Member
Yes, they live just above me. At least I know one of them does, the rest of the boys hanging out may well be his friends. I shall do that and also I've taken photos as evidence. They actually burnt a piece of paper or flyer and the ashes were on the stairway!
 

powder

Active Member
the auntie that washes the corridor is gonna cause u slip n get slipped disc?

the kids cycling downstairs r gonna knock into u and cause u bruises?

the plants outside your neighbours' house is. gonna cause u infection?

what more is there?

thru the 30yrs of HDB living, i have not seen the possibility of cigarette butts at staircases causing fire... it is impossible unless staircases r cluttered. with paper n other fuels for fire to start. the butts will extinguish by themselves. as for inside the house, we simply close our windows when going out.
 

lunaaa

New Member
Powder, you are hilarious. Why would I bother with all the instances you mentioned except the possibility of FIRE?

And yes, THERE IS INDEED PAPER cluttered around because my unit is DAMN HOT property hahaha, so everyday there is bound to be at least two or three pieces of "SELL YOUR PROPERTY" type of flyers flying around my unit.

I'm a first-time home owner who is kiasu and kiasi about everything. So don't start a flame war going on because of this
happy.gif
 

mark78

Active Member
TWO OR 3 PIECES OF SELL YOUR PROPERTY FLYERS... WOW... that alot....

can cause a major fire....

solution 1)
Sell your property

solution 2)
install those anti fire gadgets and water sprinkles.

solution 3)
Provide a bin for them to dumb their butt.
 

lunaaa

New Member
Erm those dudes won't use a bin even if there is. Again, this is my gut feel. Even if they do use the bin, why should I clear just because they like to smoke? Can't sell as I just got the keys. Anyway, just found out my neighbour opposite me is selling her flat. I'd wait till my new neighbors move in before I complain.

Yes, the number of such flyers is simply atrocious.
 

tomasulu

Member
you are a bit of a worry wort aren't you? what happens when you neighbor burn incense paper outside your unit? or when your contractor's workers smoke in your unit while renovating your place? to be fair, you are not the only person in singapore given to irrational fear. kiasi is even more prevalent than kiasu in our sunny isle. i tell you what, how about buying fire insurance if you are that worried.
 

lunaaa

New Member
We have fire insurance but the thought of having to go through Reno and unnecessary pain and headache and not to mention, loss of sentimental items due to fire, sickens me to the guts. Your examples aren't even much cause for worry to me. Why....???!!!! Because these lowlives smoked there every damn day.
 

powder

Active Member
u r quite irrational... but then again i dun think the issue here is abt the fire, but more on how proud u are in your first home ownership and the home itself... u're just finding a way to let out this happy proclaimation...

u find me an instance in the history of housing in singapore whereby cigarette-smoking Outside of a hdb flat has caused a fire to a unit, and i will humour u further on your fears... else u should just stick to worrying abt crossing the road whilst smsing or listening to the ipod.
 

powder

Active Member
btw, your use of the word "lowlives" gave u away... it is a biase and prejudice u have against them, that has caused u to speak this way, it isn't a real concern. u just dun like them...

u're the type who walks into a public place and expect the public to follow your rules... but hold little weight in real
life except minding other pple's biz... i think what u'd like is to eventually eradicate those pple u dun like away from your block. it's who u are, not your environment.
 

lunaaa

New Member
Yes, I'm a first time home owner so I'm very kancheong about this. Yes, I indeed dislike them therefore I used the word 'lowlives'. Which worrywart wouldn't be if there are those people who put them aft risk of a fire mishap?

Just like how you've described my character, youre also wrong about me using the iPod while crossing the road. Maybe I should tell you I'm typing these to you on my iPad on AT & T network while at Miami now. Cause I'm just MAKING USE of the forums to show off this fact.

I won't infer about your character based on what you type in an online forum.
 

powder

Active Member
the crossing road thing has a higher likelihood than the fire from cigarette butts from the staircase landing...

so place your priorities on the right things in lie. st. peter wil lbe laughing his head off at the gates to heaven if this topic came up.
 

lunaaa

New Member
Yes, i do agree crossing road etc may actually be more cause for worry. But powder, I'm really damn scared of fire okay? The emotional and financial lossnwill be too great for me to bear.

I'm installing CCTV in the middle of the ceiling between my unit and the other unit. So no one except us and the town council will know whose CCTV that is.

See of those hooligans will smoke and litter there.

FYI they burnt flyers for fun at the stairway. Damn right I'm gonna use the word 'lowlives' and hooligans on them.
 

nichie

Member
hello joy

I am also thinking you are over worried. The possibilities for HDB to have a fire from outside are quite small unless your neighbour is a karang guni stacking piles of newspaper or rubbish along the corridor. Most HDB fires start from inside and I doubt a few pieces of flyers will cause a fire. I have neighbour burning joss paper often and we are not around most of the time. Moreover, HDB main door are fire rated and it can withstand burning for a period time. I think most important thing is to buy fire insurance and you cant really do much about people smoking. NEA or town council may come once or twice but not every day.
 

thommy

New Member
Joy, I have a similar problem like yours, only thing mine's not lit ciggie butts but overzealous neighbours who think they are the kindest humans on earth by pouring food remnants on the floor to feed the stray birds. I have taken pictures and sent to the town council to complain but they can't do much too as I need to catch the culprit redhanded first. Most of the day I'm at work so no chance to play Sherlock Holmes. They could only ask the cleaner to make more frequent trips to clean up the place, I really pity him.
 

lunaaa

New Member
Feeding of stray birds? I would have thought it's a cat or dog. Birds? That's really rare. Yes, I don't think town council can do much. AND because I found out the opposite unit is just sold and new neighbour will move in sometime in late Feb or early March, I changed my plan from informing town council to installing CCTV in March. I don't want them to know it's me who "complained" too. Pretty scared of them. I've seen them and don't wanna mess with them.
 

thommy

New Member
yes, birds. it gets really messy when the whole flock comes. not to mention the possible transmittal of bird diseases too.
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
"Maybe I should tell you I'm typing these to you on my iPad on AT & T network while at Miami now. Cause I'm just MAKING USE of the forums to show off this fact."

Haha, this reminds me of someone describing his or her iPad as NY (New York) iPad because it was bought there, not here. Kinda funny to see that iPad has nationality.
 

goldfishtee

New Member
Hi Joy, before you install CCTV and complain to TC, I suggest you talk to the guys who smoke and litter near your flat. Communicate to them politely not to smoke and litter. Try to live in harmony with all your neighbors, sometime it's just a matter of misunderstanding.

Actually the compound outside your flat does not belong to you. You have to seek approval from TC before installing CCTV. Usually TC only approves CCTV for debt collectors and other serious type of disturbance/nuisance.

Always solve the problem without causing another bigger problem. You can talk to your MP, he/she may give you good advice. Btw which zone do you belong to? Maybe I can help you.
 

lunaaa

New Member
Hi Goldfish, actually I thought of knocking on their doors to introduce myself, say hi and maybe give them some kueh kueh. But I don't know how to approach them them on that topic. Maybe you can PM me? Thanks for enlightening me on not creating a bigger thing. BUT I reiterate especially to powder-people that this is a serious concern of mine.

Hi Powder, the cam will capture images onto a notebook in my unit and those images will be transferred to my NAS in my office.
 

powder

Active Member
being a serious concern of yours doesn't make it a serious concern... the problem is more to do with your worries than the actual causes.
 

pinkpiglet

New Member
joy - if you could read deeper into powder's post on car talk, clearly, it is not a case of boasting. merely a simple real life example of his to illustrate his point... but... surely you would agree that.... your worry of the "neighbor's habit" is. . somehow. . . not quite necessary. you should in fact befriend them and they will be kind to you. . .
 

lunaaa

New Member
Hi pink, my post over there is to make a point that I, like him, ain't boasting about anything. Can't believe there can be misunderstanding / misscomm. on this from you all.

Anyway, we spoke to the neighbour's parents upstairs and also introduced ourselves with halal cake. Guess what? They scolded us with Hokkien Vulgarities. So tell me, Pinky, what should I do?
 

powder

Active Member
my contention was on the reason u gave for the fire starting... not being defensive on your neighbours... and of cos, could tell u dun like them.

if u wanna enjoy HDB living, u should learn to be tolerant... especially if u're New. dun just walk in and expect everyone to change for u...

i have a neighbour with a barking dog 24/7 and had sleepless nights when just after i put my baby to sleep... the dog wakes my baby up... but that's HDB living for u... even in a condo, it will still happen.

your pretext was obvious...

i think u should ignore them and not do anything like the cctv etc... since now u know u got not-so-great neighbours... u have more to lose than them. your 'love nest' will be a hornet's nest.

well if u spoke on the topic to the neighbour... and it revolves around cigarette butts starting a fire to your place... then i dun really blame them if they think u're cuckoo... i have no idea why u need to describe the halal cake.

u are not objective enough... thus problem-solving will always remain an issue for u on the lower rungs... u will find your life filled with very minor problems which affect u and require u to solve.
 

pinkpiglet

New Member
pinky says you should do nothing since this problem in itself is not a problem. really. its a non issue. so you should just get pass this and move on...

and to share with you. my neighbor is a lau beng who comes back drunk every morning at 3am. vulgarities? i hear them everyday. i cant be bothered and it doesnt bother me. you will do fine if you do the same. just take it easy..
 

pinkpiglet

New Member
why not? lau beng may one day throw his cigarette butts into my house full of flyers leh.. . afterall.. i have learnt that such possibilities cant be ruled out after hearing from you....

anyway, good night joy. dont worry too much unnecessarily.
 

powder

Active Member
u're a hopeless nutcase. u should earn more money buy landed... all u want is to insist on the lowest possibilty in the history of singapore since HDBs have even been formed... u will have more pple jumping from HDBs than cigarette butts in staircase landings burning your house down.

dumb is fine.. dumb and stubborn... u should never have bought public housing.
 

mark78

Active Member
landed got snakes/lizards and other pests. the mossie can carry diseases can give him a bite.. no no..
 

lunaaa

New Member
Yes I'm scared of that too. I'm a bit soap and OCD. If I may share why I'm so fearful of cig butt burning down my flay, I'm kiasi about everything. Some examples, I don't hold railings on trains, buses etc. If I drop a coin and picked it up, I would not have it in my pocket or wallet. I will hand it to my colleague or fiancé. I wash my blackberry every week. Not by really washing, but I wet wiped it down. If I have to go to the market to get bones for my dog, I don't even use the change unless I have returned home to wash the dollar notes. My parents and sibling aren't like that. My fiancé also thinks I'm paranoid. But what to do? I'm like that! No point telling me it is a baseless fear. I already believe it is one. I came here to get advice on town council dealing etc.
 

powder

Active Member
i rest my case...

and Thomas was trying to achieve world peace between us.

u are as good as saying, "我就是这样的" and the expectation is for the world to change for u.

i see u prata here and there just to support yourself... that's u - irrational fears n changing along the way to suit yourself. i pity the town council that's gonna pick your call.. now we know better why the funny attitude in other threads.

the problem has been u all along, why start threads to mislead others to give u advice without revealing this?

this is like that "Which Handbag?" lady who doesn't mention the impt point of it being for purely a gift for a fren. lazy to type and still there to scold pple... for u, u withhold this impt fact and try to mislead pple to follow your views.
 

lunaaa

New Member
I'm not saying I won't change, powder. But the cig butt thing, how to change??? They should really stop littering for the good of all.
 

powder

Active Member
this is beyond me. my apologies for not knowing abt your OCD.

too bad u're married, else i'll recommend MPC cos it has been suggested to solve such longstanding issues like yours.

u take care and see a doc.
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
"I'm not saying I won't change, powder. But the cig butt thing, how to change??? They should really stop littering for the good of all."

You can't change the world because the world won't change for you. Just stop thinking about the cigarette butts OUTSIDE your flat.
 

lunaaa

New Member
I haven't been thinking much about them lately. I did go back to check on the flat. No cigarette butts. BUT they dumped a Milo sachet outside and a bubble tea drink into my neighbour's pot of plant. All these I can tolerate, all these I don't expect the world of them to change.
 

lunaaa

New Member
Hehe doll, I do. But I buy this special toilet cover (paper type) that I use to line the toilet bowl. When using the toilet, I also NEVER place my handbag on the little hanger-thing at the toilet cubicle. I hold my handbag on my left hand instead. Can you imagine?! Haha. I think it is funny myself but what to do, otherwise damn dirty. I also NEVER place my handbag ($10 handbag to $1000 handbag) on any coffeeshop/cafe/restaurant seat. I will place an A3 or A4 (depending on bag size) paper on the seat, then put my bag on it.
happy.gif
 

lunaaa

New Member
FYI and reading pleasure (I suspect you enjoy reading about my little "OCB" habits): I clean my dog's snout with a handkerchief after every meal. Now my dog is already ten years old and also OCB already. If someone in the household feeds him and does not clean his snout, he will automatically go to a towel on the floor to rub his snout clean. Also wetwipe him with doggy wetwipes every night before our bedtime.
happy.gif
Once, a friend came over and slept overnight. She has ecezema and was shocked she didn't experience any skin irritation while sleeping on my spare mattress. My room is almost dust-free. I clean it every morning when I awake and every evening when I come home. (The desk top area, floor with MagicClean, my room's best friend)
 

sgbabydoll

Active Member
Hey, go buy toilet seat sanitiser! I carry one with me for going to public toilets even though I don't have OCD. I also wipe my dog's snout and beard after a meal. Your OCD isn't that serious I think.
 

lunaaa

New Member
Toilet seat sanitiser? Is it the same as regular sanitiser? I hope it isn't serious too. Powder thinks I should see a doc.
 


sgbabydoll

Active Member
Not the same. It is created for cleaning of toilet seats.

But you know what, there are many more things dirtier than toilet seats - the ATM machine and steering wheel of your car!
 

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