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UPDATE on Mar. 20, 2021, 11:05am: Adding statement from West Coast Town Council
For 42-year-old wheelchair-bound Facebook user Cocoanna Christian, getting to the lift is a daily struggle.
In a Facebook post that has been circulating online, Cocoanna Christian shared the challenges she faces, including living on a floor with no lift access (level seven), and having to make her way to central lift lobbies which are only available at levels six and eight in her HDB block.
A lengthy process
Speaking to Lianhe Wanbao, Cocoanna Christian — who goes by the name Jiang Mei Ling — professed that heading out of her house at Blk 906 Jurong West Street 91 is always an obstacle-ridden task.
She said:
"I need to go for kidney dialysis three days a week...With no lift access on our floor, my husband has to help move my wheelchair to the sixth floor, after which I walk down the stairs to sit back in it. But there's a family on the sixth floor, whose potted plants have made my life very difficult."
In her post, Jiang explained further why this is so — because she uses a wheelchair, she has to be extra careful of the corridor clutter, which take up a significant amount of corridor space.
Image via Cocoanna Christian's Facebook
One segment in particular, Jiang told Lianhe Wanbao, is a stretch of corridor on the sixth floor which is filled with more than 30 potted plants.
Image via Cocoanna Christian's Facebook
She recounted in her Facebook post,
"[It's] not easy as my arms get scratched by all the twigs and branches of the potted plants. [I] have to be so careful not to fall into the corridor drain because the space is so cramped."
In her video, Jiang spends over three and a half minutes navigating her way across the sixth floor corridor to the lift lobby — constantly reversing and adjusting her wheelchair before she can move forward, or pushing herself away from the corridor drain when she gets too close to it.
Image via Cocoanna Christian's Facebook
Fell ill eight years ago
Jiang told Lianhe Wanbao that she fell ill eight years ago, around the same time she left her job as a preschool principal.
Coming down with heart disease and kidney failure left her legs extremely weak; she is only able to stand for around two minutes. She also has to go for regular dialysis sessions, which happens every other day.
Speaking candidly of the impediments she has faced since, Jiang wrote in her Facebook post, "It's why I don't go out much in the last six years since I've gotten sick."
"Issue has been settled amicably"
In response to a query from Mothership, the West Coast Town Council said that they had previously issued a written warning to the "site", to clear up the number of potted plants.
Based on their latest check, the "site" has since been cleared, and the issue "settled amicably".
Here is the full response:
"Upon receiving the feedback on Mar. 8, 2021, from Cityruth Cocoanna Christian [Jiang] regarding the potted plants obstructing the common corridor, our staff visited the said unit to advise them to reduce the number of potted plants. The staff then informed Cityruth Cocoanna Christian [Jiang] on the matter.
A follow-up visit made to site by the staff found that the advice was unheeded. A written warning was issued. In response to the written warning, the lessee who had previously cited their busy schedule, agreed to clear by today. From our latest check, the site was indeed cleared. We are glad that the issue has been settled amicably."
Top image via Cocoanna Christian/Facebook