A Singaporean homeowner has been instructed by the authorities to clear out his private "theme park" at Jalan Chempaka Kuning in Tanah Merah because of a complaint from a neighbour of his.

This neighbour, we would eventually discover, happens to be none other than the father of local actor-host Chua Enlai.

But let's backtrack a little for you first.

The "Chempaka Mini Zoological Garden"

The little theme park, which 63-year-old Cheong Boo Wee calls the "Chempaka Mini Zoological Garden", consists of a hodgepodge of animal and cartoon sculptures and plants.

According to previous reports, Cheong had slowly put it together over 25 years at a cost of S$150,000. He said his aim was to foster the kampung spirit among his neighbours.

Unfortunately, Cheong says, the father of actor-host Chua Enlai, who happens to be one of his neighbours, lodged a complaint to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) about the sculptures taking up space on the public pavement.

And, as he would share with us later on, this was just the latest stab in a bitter ongoing feud between the two men.

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It began with a hit-and-run by Chua Enlai

According to Facebook posts from him, as well as comments he posted on recent reports about what happened, the unhappiness between the neighbours started in 2015 when Chua Enlai was involved in a hit-and-run incident with Cheong.

In a Facebook post dated June 10, Cheong mentioned that Chua reversed into his car three years ago on March 21, 2015 and then drove off.

Chua denied responsibility, but Cheong produced CCTV footage that captured the incident. It then escalated to a police case that at the time, Cheong said the cost of repairs for his car could not be settled because Chua had insisted that he did not hit Cheong's car.

The case then spiralled into a civil suit and Cheong says he was only paid "damages and cost" of an unspecified amount from Chua's auto insurance company two years later.

In response to Mothership's queries, Chua's artiste management company FLY Entertainment confirmed that Cheong and Chua's father are indeed neighbours.

Here's the statement from FLY:

"With regard to the incident in 2015, Enlai shared that the CCTV footage showed that the impact made on the car was very slight and minimal, which was why he did not “feel it” when it happened and genuinely did not realise the accident. The claim was eventually settled between lawyers and insurance companies and the matter has since been resolved."

A cat-feeding confrontation

Apart from the civil suit, Cheong also mentioned that in the third quarter of 2015, a "misunderstanding" with Chua's father regarding the feeding of stray cats pushed the latter to threaten Cheong.

What happened was there was a helper living at another neighbour's house who was feeding cats in the estate. After she supposedly left some food outside the elder Chua's house, the latter saw red again and confronted Cheong about it.

Regarding this incident, Cheong wrote in another Facebook post dated June 12, 2018:

"He wanted to punch me and said that if I want to play with him using police, he will play with me with his influence."

The LTA steps in

In February 2017, Cheong received a letter from the LTA requesting the removal of his garden statues from the public pavement, following complaints raised by neighbours.

Cheong told Mothership that it was upon further queries with the LTA and his Member of Parliament (MP) that he learned that they started rolling in three years ago — the same year the car accident happened.

A confusing back-and-forth exchange, and things are still up in the air

In the year or so that followed, Cheong shifted his items off the road, but in April 2018, he received a notice from the LTA that insisted he remove everything from outside his home.

The following month, in May, Cheong's Member of Parliament Cheryl Chan arranged a meeting between the neighbours, LTA, NParks, and Bedok Police Station to help mediate, but they failed to come to a compromise.

After that, Cheong tried to clear and rearrange his "theme park" to form a walkway, and then called the LTA to send an officer to his place to confirm that the actions he took were adequate.

However, at the same meeting, Cheong said the officer told him "his manager" still wanted everything to be cleared, but would return to speak to him anyway for further review.

Eventually, Cheong says the LTA told him he still had to clear everything because the neighbour was still complaining. He added that LTA even told him they will continue issuing summons until everything is removed.

When we contacted Cheong on June 20, he said that LTA said they would review his situation and will let him know if they would require him to clear everything else.

Not alone in being at receiving end of LTA notices

Cheong also observed and shared with Mothership that he wasn't the only one — that LTA has also served notice to other houses in the vicinity to remove any property they own that occupies public space, even if it is intended for the neighbourhood to enjoy.

These are benches from number 111 Jalan Chempaka Kuning, opposite Cheong's house:

Becoming an *actual* theme park

Since the revelation of Cheong's theme park saga, Cheong says it has attracted many visitors — in the form of curious passers-by chancing on it as well as groups that actually organised visits — all of whom are intrigued by the visually arresting collection.

More often than not, Cheong takes the chance to share his experience and knowledge about animals with them, and sometimes invite them to tour his house.

Here are a couple of photos of visitors to Cheong's theme park:

In our correspondence with FLY, the company said that the issue of Cheong's theme park is "before the authorities and Enlai and his family are not in a position to comment" on it. 

Looks like Cheong's private museum to foster a stronger kampung spirit is, ironically, being torn down because of a neighbourly feud.

He concluded his Facebook post with the following reflection:

"Our government encourages keeping our area green with the campaign of community in bloom, garden by the Bay, rooftop gardens,and kampung spirit and neighbourhood bonding where seniors should spend time with neighbours to bond. Unfortunately it appears some of their agencies were doing differently. LTA told me, if no one complain, we will not act. I told them, my area I had already created a walkway and there is no poise danger to pedestrians. There are many places in Singapore that are potential safety hazard issues to pedestrians and it is very important for to spend more time than barking on me where there is no risk to pedestrians. Is it because of connections?

Something to share from an old friend and ex colleague of mine now in Taiwan:-

“When you are doing better than others, there is always jealousy mind burning, causing damages to everyone with no benefit to themselves either.

A Chinese saying goes as, "Be proud, because their jealousy indicates your greatest achievements."

Top image via BW Cheong's Facebook page