S'porean man, 63, uses hammer on neighbour's flat door & windowpanes after 'hearing noise', gets fine & jail

When a 63-year-old Singaporean man heard a noise he believed to be coming from the flat above his on Jun. 12 night, he decided to go upstairs to confront the occupant.

The man, Tee Gee Chuan, who lived on the fifth floor of a Housing and Development Board (HDB) block in Toa Payoh, subsequently walked to the sixth-floor unit directly above his, armed with a hammer.

Tee then banged forcefully on the unit's window, door, and water pipe using the head and handle of his hammer.

Upon hearing the banging sounds, a seventh-floor resident walked out of his flat and saw Tee hitting the metal windowpanes of the sixth-floor unit's window several times.

After noticing that Tee had also pulled at a wire attached to the sixth-floor unit's metal gate, the resident notified the police.

Banging caught on CCTV camera

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the incident took place at around 10:40pm on Jun. 12.

At the time, nobody was in the unit directly above Tee's flat.

Tee's actions outside the sixth-floor unit were captured by a CCTV camera installed at a neighbouring flat.

According to the video recording, Tee's banging lasted about two minutes. Court documents stated that it "could be heard very loudly".

In addition to banging on the unit's window and door, Tee hammered away at the water pipe continuously for a few seconds at one point.

He also kicked at the water pipe opposite his neighbour's flat, and hit it with his hammer.

Resident alerted police

Investigations also revealed that after banging on his neighbour's door, window, and water pipe, Tee walked up to the seventh floor and "loitered around".

When he saw the seventh-floor resident, Tee walked up another stairs to the eighth floor.

Tee was then seen walking down to the fifth floor while the resident was calling the police.

The resident also told the police that Tee "was not wearing [a] shirt" and was "shouting".

Tee arrested, diagnosed with psychotic disorder

However, when the police arrived at Tee's flat, he refused to open the door.

As a result, a police gazette for his arrest was issued.

Tee was arrested six days later on Jun. 18, when he went to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to renew his passport.

He was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) from June. 20 to Jul. 4 for medical examination.

After examining Tee, an IMH consultant diagnosed him with a psychotic disorder.

However, it was found that there was "no contributory link between his mental health condition" and his offence, and that Tee "was not of unsound mind" at the time of his offence.

Jailed & fined

On Oct. 23, Tee was sentenced to eight months in jail and a S$4,000 fine after pleading guilty to one charge of possessing an offensive weapon and one harassment charge, reported Shin Min Daily News.

Throughout Tee's unsuccessful confrontation with his upstairs neighbour, only the water pipe sustained damage.

However, neither his 78-year-old neighbour nor the town council wishes to seek compensation from him.

Not first dispute with neighbours

In the prosecution's address on Tee's sentence, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lynda Lee highlighted that this was not the first time that Tee had committed offences while "expressing his unhappiness with his neighbours".

On Mar. 9, 2021, Tee broke his next-door neighbour's belongings outside her home and went to her flat "with something in his hand" the next day.

When police arrived at his flat, Tee used Hokkien vulgarities at the officers and wielded a 70cm blade at them.

In January 2024, Tee set fire to the same neighbour's flat because she had allegedly "talked very loud every time" and "disturbed [Tee's] peace".

As the fire caused damage to Tee's neighbour's flat, she had to be evacuated, said Lee.

Tee was convicted and sentenced to jail for both these previous incidents.

Helplines

If you or someone you know are in mental distress, here are some hotlines you can call to seek help, advice, or just a listening ear:

SOS 24-hour Hotline: 1-767

Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019

Institute of Mental Health: 6389-2222 (24 hours)

Tinkle Friend: 1800-274-4788 (for primary school-aged children)

SHECARES@SCWO: Call: 8001-01-4616 | Whatsapp: 65714400 (for targets of online harms)

Top image via Shin Min Daily News