Man Arrested After Throwing Neighbour’s Mahjong Table Down HDB From the 12th Storey

What do you do when your neighbour’s mahjong table is taking up space along your HDB corridor?

A) Tell them politely that you don’t want it there

B) Complain to the town council

C) Anything but throw it down the block.

Unfortunately, a man decided to take option D) Throw it down the block.

Man Arrested After Throwing Neighbour’s Mahjong Table Down HDB

According to Lianhe Zaobao, this incident happened on 1 Aug 2020 at about 6.15pm at Blk 58 Chai Chee Drive.

A 52-year-old man decided that it was unacceptable for his neighbour to place his mahjong table along the corridor on the 12th floor of the HDB block and decided to do something about it.

He threw it down the HDB block from the 12th floor.

The man was subsequently arrested by the police officers under the Mental Health Act.

Residents Could Hear A Loud Crash

A resident who was staying on the second floor of the block said she was watching television at that time.

Suddenly, a “big shadow” flashed across her doorway before she heard a loud crash.

She immediately made her way to the ground floor to see what’s going on and snapped a photo, thinking to make a police report.

However, she realised that she didn’t need to because they were already alerted to the incident and two police officers were on their way up to find out what happened.

Luckily, no one was walking below the HDB block at that time.

The Table Owner

The owner of the mahjong table said she placed it outside of her home. Whenever there is a big gathering at her house, she will bring it in to use as a bigger dinner table.

The table costs around $100, she added.

She reportedly had no idea why the man decided to throw her table down the block either.

Possible Penalties

Remember the first part of the article which laid out three options that a rational person could take?

There’s a reason for it.

If you’re unhappy that there’s a large object out in the corridor, the simplest way to get rid of it is to complain to the Town Council.

Yes, the people you pay conservancy to every month.

If it’s something inside an HDB unit, it’s a bit more troublesome because that’s under the jurisdiction of HDB, which is hard to get hold of.

The corridor outside, however, is under the Town Council’s jurisdiction (since it’s common property) and they have the authority to help you get it removed.

Either that or mediate between you and your neighbours.

When you throw it down the HDB block, however, it becomes the jurisdiction of the police.

With your neighbour (the wrongdoer in your mind) as the victim and you as the criminal.

In Singapore Law, littering, such as throwing a piece of tissue paper on the ground, could net you anything from a composition fine of $100 (for first-time offenders) or up to a $10,000 fine, depending on how many times you do it.

Killer litter, on the other hand, could land you in jail for up to six months, an up to $2,500 fine, or both.

And that’s if no one gets injured.

If someone got hurt, you’re looking at a fine of up to $1,000, jail of up to a year, or both.

And if that someone happened to get seriously hurt, as the mahjong table could potentially do, you’re looking at a fine of up to $10,000, up to four years in jail, or both.

In other words, definitely not worth it.