Hougang HDB Residents Had Gone to Court Over Parrots’ Squawks But a Solution is Still Not Found

Neighbourly disputes are something that we don’t want but sometimes can’t avoid. 

If we’re lucky, they’re resolved quickly, often with some give and take. But, if we’re not, things can get really ugly. 

Here’s the rowdy case of two neighbours and four parrots.

Hougang HDB Residents Had Gone to Court Over Parrots’ Squawks

In this story, there are two figures: Ms Wang, the victim, and Ah Hua, the bird keeper. 

46-year-old Ah Hua has four parrots, two of which are often noisy, so much so that the sounds reach the other units.

Image: Shin Min Daily News

Ms Wang, a 68-year-old lady, has brought this matter up to Ah Hua many times. Unfortunately, all her attempts of resolving the problem were futile.

Eventually, she brought the issue up to court, at the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals in October 2022. 

Subsequently, the judge ordered Ah Hua to install a door on the balcony to keep the noise within the house. 

However, the problem persisted even after the order. According to Wang, it’s because even though they have installed the door, they seldom close it and the sounds can still be heard. 

Sickening parrots make her as sick as a parrot with the neighbours. 

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, she said the sounds could be heard daily in the mornings. Also, she played a 10-minute recording of the parrots’ chirping. 

Not only that, she has upgraded her evidence-collection process by manually documenting the times at which the birds chirp.

Image: Shin Min Daily News

Quarrels 

Obviously, tension like this doesn’t come without bickering. 

Apart from documenting the birds’ noises, Wang also noted down the times she argued with her neighbour. These logs are so precise that they’re down to the exact date, hour, and minute!

Wang shared that her neighbour would always curse at her, sometimes unloading a string of profanities. 

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No Intention of Ridding the Parrots

Ah Hua said he has no intention of moving the parrots since they don’t violate any rules. The parrots serve as her teenage daughter’s company at home when both parents are out working. 

Additionally, she has already put in place certain measures to decrease the noise, such as moving the cage from the balcony to inside the house and covering the cage with black cloth at night. 

Police Involved? 

Understandably, Ms Wang is incensed. As such, she has resorted to lighting incense. 

Every day for half a month, she started burning incense to smoke the parrots out. Because there were worshippers at home, she said the parrots’ noise was a huge disturbance, leaving her with no choice. 

However, she soon stopped because she realised her efforts were in vain and the chirping continued. 

Apparently, Ah Hua had called the police on this matter, but Ms Wang wasn’t aware of it. 

In this sitch, there are no winners. So, whose side are you on? 

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Featured Image: Shin Min Daily News