S'pore woman, 74, who violated court order not to disturb neighbour dies before sentencing

A 74-year-old woman was found guilty of violating a court order when she yelled and made noise to disturb her neighbour.

However, before her sentencing on Jul. 24, she passed away.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the prosecution told the court that Tay Boon Tiang passed away on Jul. 15. The prosecution then applied to withdraw the charge and formally close the case.

Tay was issued a court order on Feb. 27, 2018, not to shout from her unit at Block 316A Anchorvale Link or cause any excessive noise that night to disturb her neighbour, Chua, on the floor above.

Tay was charged on Feb. 13, 2025, for violating that order between Jul 25, 2023 and Feb. 22, 2024, on at least 15 different occasions.

Disturbance

According to the prosecution's closing submission, the disturbance began in September 2017.

Tay would use an object to hit the ceiling of her flat's toilet and scold Chua whenever Chua flushed her house toilet or showered.

Tay would allegedly call Chua "bastard", "monster" and "vixen".

After two months of Tay's behaviour, Chua approached a Member of Parliament (MP) to help resolve the matter and was referred to mediation.

However, Tay refused to attend the mediation, and her behaviour worsened.

On Jan. 16, 2018, Chua lodged a police report against Tay and was advised to lay a Magistrate's complaint.

Chua made a complaint with the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals on Jan. 17, 2018.

On Feb. 27, 2018, the Deputy Registrar issued an Order of Court, directing Tay not to shout from her flat or make excessive noise that might disturb Chua.

Years of noise

After receiving the court order, Tay stopped making noise in her flat and shouting at Chua for a short period between Feb. 27 and October 2018.

From October 2018 onwards, Tay started hitting the ceiling of her flat using an object and shouting at Chua again with increased frequency.

One of the phrases Tay shouted at Chua was "where got... someone keep using the toilet or keep flushing the toilet."

This behaviour continued almost every day, no matter the time, and Tay would hit her flat's ceiling from almost anywhere.

The noise and shouting caused Chua and her husband a great deal of stress, so they arranged to use the toilet at around the same time. They would flush the toilet only once, after both of them used it.

From January 2021, the knocking of the ceiling by Tay started to occur at any time of the day, including in the middle of the night.

Chua called the police every time the noise and shouting became too much, but that did not stop Tay.

In 2022 or 2023, Chua approached her MP and submitted documents and audio recordings she had of the noises and shouting by Tay.

On Jun. 30, 2023, the two appeared in court, where Tay denied that the person making the noise in the recordings was her.

However, Tay's son testified against her, stating that it was Tay's voice.

The judge then issued a Special Direction of Court, directing Tay to comply with the court order issued in 2018.

An apology letter

After the hearing on Jun. 30, 2023, Chua received a letter from Tay, apologising for her "past behaviour and actions that might have resulted in distress and inconvenience."

Tay denied preparing the letter and signing it, but her son testified that he had prepared the apology letter, and she was aware of its content and purpose.

She even signed a piece of paper, knowing her signature would be digitised and affixed on the apology letter.

After her son's testimony, Tay retracted her statement and admitted she knew the contents of the letter and signed it.

15 occasions

Tay was unhappy after receiving the Special Direction of Court, so she started knocking on her flat ceiling on the morning of Jul. 1, 2023, waking both Chua and her husband.

This led Chua and her husband to buy a recording device to capture the incidents involving Tay.

Tay would make numerous noises, such as opening and slamming the kitchen window, hitting a cup/mug with another object, opening and slamming the shower screen of her bathroom, crashing drums, and using a metal pole to hit the wall between the two kitchens.

She would also make excessive noise with a rhythm.

This would occur several times throughout the day and night, making it difficult for Chua and her husband to sleep.

Tay's behaviour continued till the trial began.

The prosecution produced audio and video recordings of 15 occasions where Tay failed to comply with the Special Direction of the Court.

Chua and other neighbours residing in the same block who were affected by Tay's disturbance also produced audio and video footage of the incidents.

These incidents occurred between Jul. 25, 2023, and Feb. 22, 2024.

Denial

According to court documents, Tay denied all the instances with no realistic or logical explanations.

The prosecution also described her as an evasive witness who lied in court and, in her "desperate attempt to exonerate herself", testified that:

• She was not required to refrain from shouting or making excessive noises despite the court order issued to her.
• She did not shout at Chua and made no noise in her flat, claiming the voice in the audio recordings belonged to her niece. However, she refused to provide the niece's name and did not call the niece to court.
• She claimed that her neighbours went to her flat and made all the noise so that it could be captured in the video recordings. The prosecution described her responses as "unbelievable and absurd".
• She said the testimonies of the nine witnesses by the prosecution were "not true"

Passed away before sentencing

Tay was found guilty in June 2025 and was to be sentenced on Jul. 24, 2025.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the prosecution received a notice from investigators that Tay had died on Jul. 15 and applied to withdraw the charges and close the case.

Tay reportedly died of illness, Shin Min Daily News added.

Chua, her husband, and another neighbour were present in court for the sentencing and told the Chinese media that they were not aware that Tay had passed away.

When asked how she felt, Chua said that she would not forgive Tay but felt a weight had been lifted off her chest.

"To fully let go, I still need time," she told Shin Min Daily News.

Chua and her husband also hope that their life will be peaceful after Tay's death.

Top photos via Shin Min Daily News and Google Maps