Yishun residents erect wall of cacti and durian to ward off neighbor who’s been harassing them for years

Photo: Pixabay
Photo: Pixabay

Erecting walls to keep people out is generally agreed to be a bad idea, but this one may be an exception.

After enduring years of harassment from an unneighborly neighbor, two HDB households in Yishun decided that the only way to ward off the bedevilment was to construct a wall made of metal, wood, cacti, and durian husks. As one does.

According to a Shin Min Daily News report, an elderly neighbor had been dumping litter on the doorsteps and corridor of her fellow residents — the garbage included toilet paper, sanitary pads, oil, dark sauce and (gasp!) urine. It’s an experience that two households at Block 112 along Yishun Ring Road claimed to have endured for over two years.

Surveillance cameras were installed and police reports were lodged, but to no avail — the harassment continued. A makeshift fence made of chairs, tables and planks didn’t even stop “Sunglasses Auntie” — she was named after her habit of wearing shades at all times.

But like any good survivalist in defense against a relentless horde, the victims knew their wall needed upgrading. And so it was — one of the affected residents who spoke to Shin Min said that he picked up wooden planks, pipes, and various other items to fortify the fence. Thorny durian husks (very Singaporean, we might add) were used at first, but those things stank up the place, and they were soon replaced with cacti. It’s just too bad that they didn’t get the neighbor to pay for the wall.

The Great Wall of Cacti proved to be successful in preventing Sunglasses Auntie from getting close to their houses, but her harassment continued nonetheless. Garbage and liquids are apparently splashed from a distance now.

Honestly, it just sounds like the auntie may be mentally unwell, but when troubles have been ongoing without fail for years, prickly times call for prickly measures.



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