Finding himself at his wits' end regarding his neighbour's hoarding habit, a man reported the issue to the Tanjong Pagar Town Council numerous times before the neighbours belongings were finally removed from the corridor.

In retaliation, his neighbour put up containers of rotten food outside the man's unit every day.

The stench has become so unbearable that the man is unable to open his door to let air in.

Unsure of what he should do to resolve this, the man took to Reddit to voice his woes.

Neighbour was a hoarder

Speaking to Mothership, Rafael Abdullah, 36, said that he lives in a rental unit at Block 19 Telok Blangah Crescent with his wife.

He revealed that the man's hoarded items were present along the corridor ever since he moved in in 2021.

He said that his neighbour lives directly opposite him and appears to be a man in his fifties who sells ice cream for a living.

Rafael noticed that the man used to live with a sister until a few months ago.

"I'm not sure where the sister went so he's living alone now," he explained.

In photos taken on Sep. 21, 2022, the neighbour already had quite an assortment of boxes and shelves outside his house and they flanked both the left and right sides of his door.

Styrofoam boxes, plastic crates, and cooler boxes were stacked on top of each other, and some of them were packed with items.

Stacks of cheap furniture such as plastic stools were also spotted.

Although the items were kept against the man's side of the common corridor, the items took up at least one-third of its width.

"Our clothes got stuck on his items a few times while walking past and it's hard to even push a bicycle past his items," Rafael claimed.

Approached town council for help

Rafael said that he submitted his first report regarding his neighbour's hoarding issue to Tanjong Pagar Town Council in September 2022.

According to the Jurong-Clementi Town Council's website, hoarding puts the lives of residents who live with the clutter at risk, and poses a danger to those who live in close proximity.

"There have been instances where firefighters struggled to go through stacks of hoarded items that towered to the ceiling," Jurong-Clementi Town Council elaborated.

Tried to explain his side

Soon after, the neighbour approached Rafael to explain why he kept his items along the corridor.

However, the reason was a strange one.

The man said that he leaves his items outside so that an old Malay man who lives next door would have something to hold on to if he feels faint along the corridor.

The man also insisted that such a situation had occurred before.

The man's reasoning left Rafael bewildered.

He said: "If the old man was to grab onto any items outside, wouldn't they all topple over together with him?"

Situation did not improve

A year later in November 2023, the situation did not change.

"I decided to report again and again and each time they stuck a warning notice on his items. I think it was around the seventh to tenth complaint before they finally cleared his items," he said,

The town council finally cleared the neighbour's items on Dec. 7, 2023.

Little did Rafael know that his nightmare was far from over.

Left rotten food outside everyday

When the neighbour returned home to discover that his belongings along the corridor had been removed, he "[made] a fuss about it with another neighbour".

Shortly after, Rafael's electricity was switched off from the outside.

Suspecting that it was the work of his neighbour, Rafael installed a CCTV camera outside his unit.

The following week, the neighbour started leaving food to rot directly outside Rafael's unit.

He would hang rotten food in containers on the wall outside his home, directly across from Rafael's main door.

This would be a daily occurrence.

At around 4am, the neighbour would put a new container of rotten food outside before preparing for work and heading out.

Hours later, at around 10am, town council cleaners or Rafael himself would remove the container and its contents.

Rafael said that the stench is so unbearable that he is unable to open his main door to let air in.

In addition, CCTV footage seen by Mothership show the neighbour spraying what Rafael claimed to be pesticides into the corridor.

The man would also spray pesticides directly onto Rafael's doorstep.

When asked if other neighbours on the same level are bothered by the man's behaviour, Rafael explained that he shares the corridor with 10 units, seven to eight of which are occupied.

However, the residents living in the corridor are usually not home during the day and seldom open their doors.

"Yesterday, he spoke to a reporter and claimed that he put out the smelly stuff to deter stray cats," Rafael said.

At a loss of what to do

Rafael is thinking of lodging a report with the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals.

In the meantime, he's trying to look for a new place for him and his wife, which is expected to be long process.

Mothership has reached out to Tanjong Pagar Town Council for comment.

Top photos via Rafael Abdullah