Woman in Teck Whye Sprayed Neighbour with Pesticides for 3 Years coz’ She was Allegedly Unhappy with the Potted Plants in the Corridor

By
Jorryn
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Here comes yet another neighbour dispute—but instead of mysterious noises being the issue, this time it’s the issue of too many potted plants and too much pesticide.

Woman in 70s Accused of Spraying Too Much Pesticide

On Wednesday (26 May), a video of a woman in her 70s spraying pesticides at her neighbour’s house was uploaded onto social media.

The video was uploaded by Sila (丝拉), a 47-year-old woman who is a resident at a certain block of HDB flats in Teck Whye. She has been living at the HDB flat in question for 4 years.

The source of the conflict?

When interviewed by Lianhe Zaobao, Sila said that she started planting around 30 different potted plants along the corridor not too long after she had moved in.

However, her neighbour who lived opposite her unit, a 71-year-old woman, complained that the plants attracted insects on top of blocking the walkway. Hence, she said that her neighbour often made things difficult for her.

The neighbour, Mdm Choi, is accused of spraying so much pesticide to the point that Sila and her daughter are often woken up by the smell in the middle of the night. The potted plants have also withered due to the overload of pesticide.

According to Sila, people from the town council had paid them a visit to understand the situation after being notified of the complaints. The conclusion was that the corridor still had a walkway of 1.2m width, and that the corridor was also kept very clean and tidy—there shouldn’t be any issue with Sila planting her potted plants.

However, Mdm Choi reportedly remained unsatisfied. Sila said that Mdm Choi became worse in 2019, when she started spraying pesticide directly at her house.

“My daughter was woken up in the middle of the night one day, complaining that she couldn’t breathe. Afterwards, I discovered that the bedrooms and living rooms all had a thick stench of pesticide. Many potted plants in the corridor also wilted one by one,” said Sila.

Suspecting that it was Mdm Choi behind everything, Sila started paying attention to what was going on in the corridor. She found that Mdm Choi would regularly spray pesticide in the corridor and at her door every few weeks.

Even when partition boards were installed on the windows, the pesticide could still be smelt from inside the house. In order to gather evidence, Sila decided to install a camera. In March last year, a 15 seconds long video of Mdm Choi spraying pesticide outside her window at 4am was captured.

Because of this, Sila has filed a report to the police many times. She has also lodged a complaint to the National Environment Agency and town council. Only after this did Mdm Choi behave in a more restrained manner. However, she would continue her actions every now and then.

“One night last week, I once again heard the sound of pesticide being prayed. The house then started to fill with the smell of pesticide.”

Sila said that because of Mdm Choi’s actions, the windows of her house are almost never opened. She has tried resolving the conflict through the community mediation centre three times, but Mdm Choi’s refusal to communicate left her feeling helpless.

Daughter of Mdm Choi Says Mother Was Misunderstood

According to the daughter of Mdm Choi, her mother did not spray pesticide as retaliation for having too many potted plants blocking the corridor. Instead, Mdm Choi’s daughter, 42-years-old Mrs Zhang, claims that her mother was only spraying the insects.

Mrs Zhang lives with Mdm Choi, and both accepted interviews on the conflict.

Speaking to Lianhe Zaobao, Mdm Choi says that the spraying of pesticide is not intentional, adding that she did not spray the pesticide anymore.

“I’m just very scared of insects. I often see cockroaches or mosquitoes around when I wake up in the middle of the night, so I would spray pesticide in the corridor,” said Mdm Choi.

Mrs Zhang also accused Sila of originally placing her potted plants on both sides of the corridor. Reportedly, Sila was willing to move one side of her potted plants only after a complaint was lodged.

“Mother had a stroke that year. At that time, when the nurses pushed the stretcher to the ambulance, they also complained that the space in the corridor was too small,” Mrs Zhang said.

She also said that Sila and her husband had dismantled her mother’s religious items without obtaining their permission. On top of that, they had also allegedly often provoked her mother, hence leading to Mdm Choi and her daughter thinking that negotiating with their neighbours was pointless.

In response to Mrs Zhang’s statement, Silla claimed that they had only removed the religious objects placed outside their own unit. She added that they had only done so because Mdm Choi had refused to listen despite several reminders, and had instead scolded them.

Mdm Choi Also Accused of Pouring Water in the Corridor and Ringing A Bell at 5am

Mdm Choi has also been accused of ringing a bell at 5am in the morning on numerous occasions, disturbing others from their sleep. She had also allegedly splashed water on the corridor outside their homes.

Mdm Choi defended herself by saying that she did it for good luck and to ward off evil.

Saying that Mdm Choi had a few habits that she found frustrating, Sila claimed that Mdm Choi would ring a bell at 5am in the morning almost every day—for one to two hours.

Mdm Choi’s neighbours would often be woken from sleep by the bell, and could not have a peaceful sleep.

Aside from this, Sila also said that Mdm Choi would often splash water along the corridor, causing the entire corridor to be wet. She said, “In March this year, my daughter-in-law got splashed when standing outside our unit when Mdm Choi splashed water in the corridor again. We were so angry that we called the police again.”

In response to this accusation, Mdm Choi explained that she was not targeting her neighbours, nor did she intend to get Sila’s daughter-in-law wet. Mrs Zhang also added that these were just her mother’s lifelong habits, saying that “I know that our neighbours might misunderstand us. After many attempts to persuade my mother, she no longer does all these.”

When approached by Lianhe Zaobao, the police confirmed that they had received a report about the incident, and that investigations are currently ongoing.

Featured Image: Instagram (sgfollowsall)

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