Wah, talk about neighbourly drama! If you think your neighbour sweeping dust into your corridor is bad, wait till you hear this story straight out of Yishun.

A young couple, Mr Alvin Chan and Ms Sheryl Seet, moved into their dream matrimonial home at Block 513C, Yishun Street 51 back in late 2022. At first, everything was quite okay, quite cordial with their 69-year-old next-door neighbour, Uncle Heng (Heng Choo Hwi).

Then, things slowly turned into a total K-drama nightmare.

When Your Corridor Becomes a Concert Hall

Instead of the usual “Good morning, eat already?”, Uncle Heng allegedly started giving them the full VIP experience:

• Live Percussion & Karaoke: Sitting outside his flat, banging metal poles, hitting empty cans, and chanting/singing loudly at top volume.
• Corridor Splashing: Pouring random liquids along the shared walkway.
• Littering & Kicking Things: Throwing trash and kicking objects towards the couple’s flat.

The couple tried to be nice, but when logic failed, they sent a lawyer’s cease-and-desist letter in August. When Uncle Heng didn’t care, they went to court in December and got an Expedited Protection Order (EPO).

The court order explicitly commanded Uncle Heng: NO pouring liquids, NO abusive gestures, and strictly NO deliberate loud noises in the area.

“I Was Just Cleaning Cans, What Noise?”

CCTV footage captured outside the flat showed a process server handing Uncle Heng the court paper on Jan 19. But just weeks later on Feb 5, Mr Chan came home from work—only to find Uncle Heng sitting outside, seeing him, and immediately starting an 11-minute solo concert of heavy metal banging and loud singing!

Mr Chan called the mata immediately.

Fast forward to court: Uncle Heng turned up in style, rolling a whole trolley bag of items behind him into the State Courts. His defense?

• He claimed he was just “cleaning his cans as usual”.
• He denied ever seeing the court order, claiming nobody explained it to him (despite being caught on video receiving the papers!).
• He said they went for mediation in March, so he thought everything was “settled already” and the court order was automatically cancelled.

The Sad Ending: Packing Up & Moving Out

While prosecutors played multiple CCTV clips in court showing Uncle Heng’s loud metal banging and chanting, Mr Chan revealed the saddest part of the whole saga: They give up already.

Because they feel “very unsafe within our own home” and never know when Uncle Heng will act up next, the young couple has decided to uproot their lives and move back in with Mr Chan’s parents. Imagine buying your first BTO or flat, only to be sang and banged out of it!

Uncle Heng is currently on trial for breaching the protection order. If convicted, he could face up to 6 months in jail, a fine up to $5,000, or both. And that’s not all—he still has two other separate charges waiting for him in the wings regarding liquid-pouring and threatening Town Council officers if they touch his corridor items!

Moral of the story: When viewing flats next time, don’t just look at the view and the afternoon sun… go check if your prospective neighbour has a secret hobby in heavy metal percussion!

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