There’s little in life more annoying than your neighbours’ homes undergoing renovation. I sure can’t wait for a drill to become my new alarm clock.
Last year, renovation noise allegedly drove one resident mad enough to trespass into her neighbour’s home and throw a sandal at them.
For one homeowner at Eunos’ Jalan Kechot, the neighbouring renovation works ended up causing far more than irritation, as his precious carp fish perished.
How exactly did this happen?
Debris From Renovation Allegedly Caused Death of Carp
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, Mr Lim Ah Boy explained that the renovation had been ongoing for over a year.
He accused the contractors of failing to install appropriate protective measures, leading to gravel and other small debris falling onto his property.
Some of the loose debris measured two inches long, which Mr Lim said was a safety hazard.
Mr Lim’s wife had to expend much effort to clean up the mess on their property after work stopped for the day. They even went as far as to hire a part-time helper every week to help out.
A dirty ground proved to be the lesser casualty of the affair, however.
According to Mr Lim, he spent S$5,000 to S$6,000 on eight Japanese carp, which he had been rearing for over five years.
He said that the carp were very sensitive to the renovation debris polluting the pond they lived in, even leaping out and suffocating.
One died in February 2024, four more followed it in March, and by 8 July, there were none left alive.
May they rest in peace in carp heaven.
Mr Lim told Shin Min that he greatly cherished the carp and felt great emotional pain at their deaths. He has since decided to stop rearing the fish until the renovation is completed.
Contractor Says They Covered Carp Pond After Feedback
When interviewed, the contractor in charge of renovation argued that they had put up protective coverings, except for recent weeks when they needed to strip mould from stone columns and dismantle several metal structures.
He claimed that after receiving feedback in June, he surrounded the carp pond with plastic sheets. After it initially seemed like they weren’t needed, he removed them.
“During construction, it’s impossible to prevent some debris and dust from crossing over.”
Mr Lim’s troubles didn’t end there either. A recent annual inspection found cracks in the ceiling of his dining room and master bedroom.
He blamed them on the quaking caused by the laying of the foundation next door. However, the contractors refused to take responsibility for that. Mr Lim thus had to pay for repairs out of his pocket.
Mr Lim also alleged his car’s tyres had burst four times since February, most recently on 24 June. He believed the cause to be sharp metallic objects like nails falling over from the renovation works and into his tyres.
On the opposite end of the story, the aforementioned contractor also brought up that Mr Lim requested he clean his sink for him. He did so, waiving the claimed S$3,000 fee as compensation.
At least he got something good out of the gauntlet of bad news.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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