Woman gets volunteers to clear hoarder mum's Boon Lay flat on pretext items inside got bought for S$1,000

A woman recently sought help from a charity organisation to declutter and clean her parents' home at Boon Lay Drive, where her 76-year-old mother had been hoarding items for years.

The mother, surnamed Guo (transliterated), told Shin Min Daily News that she and her husband had been living in the five-room flat for more than 20 years.

After their children had their own families and moved out over 10 years ago, items in the house kept accumulating, and Guo was not physically able to tidy them.

As a last resort, Guo's daughter decided to get help to clean the place up, so that her family can enjoy reunion dinner at the house this Lunar New Year.

To get her mother to go along with it, she lied to Guo that someone was buying all the items for about S$1,000.

Eight hours' work

On Jan. 4, 60 volunteers from Ang Mo Kio Secondary School (AMKSS) Social Move, an organisation founded by a group of the school's alumni, spent eight hours on the job on Jan. 4.

They transformed an apartment with an overwhelming volume of items into a safe and liveable space, the organisation wrote on Facebook.

They also consulted Guo about what she wanted to keep, and carefully sorted keepsakes and important documents.

Photos of their work showed a heap of the clutter in the living room, kitchen, and rooms, which left the volunteers with very little space to stand.

Some of the volunteers had stand on the clutter to clean the windows and remove items.

After the job was done, the house was unrecognisable, which revealed the spacious living room premises.

The volunteers filled and threw out about 120 garbage bags in the end, according to Shin Min.

Concerned

Guo's two daughters told Shin Min that the house used to be spacious, but then it became so messy that no one could even use the sofa.

Some of the items were given by friends and relatives, but they were mostly things that the daughters had never seen before.

They were worried about the dangers the clutter might pose, such as if the items fell on their elderly parents or caused a fire.

Guo's neighbours also expressed similar concerns about a possible fire, and even reported the problem to the town council.

According to Shin Min, notices were put up at Guo's door and at the corridor outside, saying that town council personnel had inspected the area and requested the resident to clear the clutter.

The neighbours were relieved and supportive of the clean-up project, even bringing drinks out for the volunteers.

Top images from AMKSS Social Move/Facebook