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A resident in Woodlands who set up a blessing booth area along the common HDB corridor outside her flat to give away pre-owned goods is required to downsize her operations and stop accepting donated items.

This was after she received a safety notice from Marsiling-Yew Tee Town Council notifying her that the booth was obstructing common property.

The booth was set up along the common corridor of Block 185A Woodlands Street 13, at the 21st level since September 2021.

The woman, Fitri Azura Selamat, 30, who started the Blessing Booth, put up a Facebook post on April 26 to share that she had received a letter from the town council.

Her post appealed to donors to stop sending pre-loved items to her to be redistributed as she is required to downsize her operations.

She also said the authorities are helping her find another location to store the items.

What motivates her

Azura, who has two children aged one and three, told Shin Min Daily News that she used to be so poor she could not afford diapers and milk powder.

This led her to seek help by asking for donations online, and little did she know, Good Samaritans heeded her appeal for help and showed up with the necessities she requested.

As a way to pay it forward these days, Azura took to putting out items for other people in need.

The blessing booth initiative was praised by Marsiling Yew-Tee MP Zaqy Mohamad for being a "wonderful initiative" when it first started.

Items to be cleared

The town council has stipulated that the items must be cleared by May 11 as they occupied a large swathe of the common corridor leading up to the lift area.

The items laid out along the corridor included clothes, children's toys, as well as dry food.

The woman explained that many items were sent to her just before the recent festive season and she had not had the time to sort and organise them.

Shin Min reported that Azura apologised to her neighbours who are affected and sought their understanding in approaching her directly to avoid any misunderstanding.

She added: "We have announced online that we will stop collecting clothing. The authorities are currently assisting in finding a place to store these supplies."

Items will be relocated

The Marsiling-Yew Tee Town Council has responded to Azura's post saying that it has been working with members of the Residents' Network to find another location for the items to be stored.

A store at the void deck with CCTV surveillance has been proposed, but the move would require bringing the items down.

"While we support this great initiative and would like others to continue benefitting from it, the safety of our residents is of utmost importance to us," the town council explained.

Top photos via Rara Slmtzx