Volunteers take 10 hours to clear 3-room Boon Lay flat filled with garbage

A three-room flat in Boon Lay was filled to the brim with bags of garbage and other clutter.

Charity organisation Helping Joy spent Oct. 26 decluttering the flat, as litter filled the entire house, leaving little space to walk.

According to 8World News, the entire operation took 10 hours, with the team starting at 9am and finishing at 6pm.

Minister for Education and Member of Parliament for West Coast-Jurong West GRC Desmond Lee also lent a hand to help clean up the house.

Limited mobility

A Boon Lay grassroots volunteer told 8World News that Helping Joy first learned of the flat's condition from the owner's daughter.

It was revealed that the owner was a man with limited mobility suffering from chronic knee and ankle pain, causing his leg to swell.

As a result, he could not do the daily chores and struggled to bend down to handle the garbage in the kitchen, leading to the accumulation of waste over time.

In photos shared on Helping Joy's Facebook page, there were numerous plastic bottles, garbage bags, and unopened food bags lining the hallway and the floors.

There was little room to walk around in the flat, and volunteers were required to wear N95 masks, long sleeves, and protective boots.

In addition, 8World News also reported that incense ash and human excrement were scattered throughout the house, posing a health and safety hazard.

Cleaning process

The entire process involved volunteers dividing into teams to help clear the house of garbage.

They would place the trash into black garbage bags and bring it down in trash cans.

This continued until all the trash was cleared from the house.

From there, another team of volunteers cleaned the floor, painted the walls and brought in donated furniture to furnish the house.

The team worked systemically and finished clearing and repainting the house after 10 hours.

Helping Joy is a Singapore-registered Institution of Public Character Charity Organisation founded in 2012.

It serves more than 500 vulnerable members of society, like physically and mentally challenged individuals, elderly persons and low-income families that might be living in a cluttered environment, or in unhealthy conditions and need help to restore their homes to a healthy state.

Top photos via Helping Joy/Facebook