Extreme Horror Pics + News

[MaCe 3]

>> ASIAONE / NEWS / ASIAONE NEWS / SINGAPORE / STORY

Mon, Jun 09, 2008

The New Paper

Tampines woman fills corridor with junk

YOU could be forgiven for thinking this is a karung guni's headquarters.

Plastic bags filled with empty drink containers hang from the ceiling, while stacks of cardboard boxes, plastic containers and a wooden cabinet virtually block and barricade the peach-coloured front door.

But this is no junk collector's warehouse, it is a three-room Housing Board (HDB) flat at Tampines Street 41, belonging to a woman resident.

Walk a little further down the corridor past her unit and you will see more of her items.

Partially obstructing the common corridor are boxes with bamboo poles, plastic bags, clothes pegs, brooms and luggage bags, all stacked up.

The items are not just stashed on the 12th storey where the woman lives.

There are more on the 11th storey. There, bicycles, trolleys and assorted plastic bags and boxes are stuffed near the stairwells.

The New Paper spoke to residents there, who said the items belonged to a woman in her 50s.

They have seen her adding and removing items from her hoard, they said.

The mysterious collector's door (top) is practically barricaded with junk. The corridor (above) is also lined with the items she has amassed. --TNP Pictures: KUA CHEE SIONG Some have also seen her arguing with the town council's cleaners who have tried to remove some of her things.

While Tampines Town Council has stepped in several times, since last December (see report on facing page), her habit of hoarding things continues.

This worries her neighbours, who said they had put up with her messy ways for years.

FIRST ENCOUNTER

Madam Abida Beby, 50, a homemaker who has lived on the floor below the woman for the past five years, said her first encounter with her neighbour's clutter came about two years ago, when she saw a bicycle and luggage bag chained together next to her unit. She recalled: 'It really gave me the jitters. At first I wondered if it could be a dead body inside.

'I had no idea who the owner (of those things) was.'

She placed a note on the items, requesting they be removed, and they were taken away one day. But some months later, items such as bicycles and trolleys started popping up again on her floor.

Unable to take the mess, she alerted the town council.

Madam Abida later found out who the resident was when the town council stepped in to clear up the items last year.

Madam Abida said of the woman's flat: 'It's like a store house, you can't even see the door, so I wonder how she squeezes in (to get home).'

She added that the woman would clear some items on the 11th storey when the town council officers do checks, but would go back to her old ways shortly after.

She said: 'My concern is that it's really a fire hazard, we are not against her.

'If we don't do something now, it would be too late if a fire were to happen.'

ALSO WORRIED

The mysterious collector's door is practically barricaded with junk.

Her point is echoed by another neighbour, Mr TH Wee, 41, who also lives on the 11th storey.

The self-employed man is reminded of the Hougang fire last September, in which two siblings died when the clutter outside a provision shop caught fire.

Mr Wee said: 'We just want peace of mind, we are not asking for trouble.'

His wife, part-time teacher SH Ang, 41, added: 'It's really inconsiderate, because she's putting her neighbours at risk.'

A few residents on the 12th storey said the woman appeared to live by herself, and one has seen her dressed in various fast-food outlet uniforms.

One neighbour said the woman earned her living by exchanging old newspapers and drink containers for cash - just like a karung guni (rag-and-bone man) would.

The female neighbour, who declined to be identified, noted that the woman was usually out and about even in the wee hours of the morning.

She said: 'My husband hopes she can remove the items because there's dust and germs.

'And sometimes, the rubbish even gives off a bad smell.'

While she has spoken to the woman before about clearing up the mess a few times, nothing has been done, she said.

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Town council says...

THE Tampines Town Council has been clearing 'most' of the woman's items from the common corridor weekly since last December.

Responding to queries from The New Paper, Mr Ong Kian Min, Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC, said that there were a number of 'very serious dangers' posed to residents when people leave items 'excessively and indiscriminately' along the passageways.

He noted that pranksters, for instance, could set items such as cardboard boxes and old newspapers alight.

When a fire occurs, items which block the passageway will obstruct escape routes and hinder fire-fighting efforts, he added.

In addition, such unattended items could be breeding grounds for cockroaches, mosquitoes and other pests that affect the health of residents.

Because of these risks, the town council would take firm action to remove the items.

However, Mr Ong said: 'When our cleaners are clearing the items, the resident would become very emotional, cry and demand that the cleaners return the items.

'We have to understand the emotional and psychological state of the person who hoards and will try our best to handle the situations sensitively to lessen the trauma they face.'

Mr Ong said the town council would continue to engage the resident to clear the items.

He said: 'If her situation requires it, we will introduce her to counsellors and befrienders to help her along.'

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Woman says...

THE woman at the centre of it all spoke to The New Paper briefly through a tiny opening of her door.

It was night-time, and her flat was in total darkness.

The slightly built woman confirmed that she lived at the flat unit, although she declined to reveal her name or occupation.

She said of her habit of hoarding items: 'I like to treasure things.'

And no, she is no karung guni, she said. 'I don't sell these items, I give them away to my friends.'

Asked when she would clear the corridor, she replied that she 'would clear, but would take some time'.

When questioned further on the the inconvenience she is causing her neighbours or the fire hazard posed, she replied profusely, 'No, no, no,' before shutting the door.

This article was first published in The New Paper on June 7, 2008.

[Air 0]

This one really takes the cake....

Maybe can enter Guiness Book of Records :bow:

[MaCe 3]

hmm....forgot to put at the topic

R rated pics, underage not allowed.

R for Rubbish

[Air 0]

hmm....forgot to put at the topic

R rated pics, underage not allowed.

R for Rubbish

Very apt!

[yokine9a 1]

Ever read from an article that this is a kind of mental illness, people just keep collecting unused/unwanted stuff and refuse to throw them away.

She needs to see specialist lah.

[kopikao 0]

Ever read from an article that this is a kind of mental illness, people just keep collecting unused/unwanted stuff and refuse to throw them away.

She needs to see specialist lah.

Compulsive hoarding is a complex problem involving problematic patterns of acquisition, organization, and retention of items of questionable value. Compulsive hoarders often acquire excessive quantities of items, live in cluttered and disorganized circumstances, and fail to dispose of items in a reasonable and timely manner. The predominant treatment for compulsive hoarding is cognitive behavior therapy. (CBT) that employs exposure (e.g., practice in discarding hoarded items), response prevention (e.g., forgoing opportunities to add items to the cache of hoarded items), and cognitive restructuring (e.g., correcting distorted beliefs relating to hoarding). Pharmacologic treatment has also been applied to hoarding. While there is little research on treatment outcome, it is believed that hoarding is strongly predictive of a poor treatment outcome. It is widely held that these individuals are often difficult to engage in treatment, lack motivation to change and are resistant to therapeutic interventions. Thus, among the so-called "obsessive-compulsive (OC) spectrum disorders," hoarding is viewed as an OC variant that is particularly hard to treat.

[CutePinkElephant 0]

I'll sure die if im her neighbour

[Cantona7 0]

I like the second pics, how she can manage to squeeze thru her main door???