An 88-year-old man has been fined S$3,000 (around RM9,500) for repeatedly dumping rubbish onto his neighbour’s air-conditioning ledge, in what a court described as “highly anti-social” behaviour.
Choo Hoe Chiang pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour under Singapore’s Protection from Harassment Act, following a long-running dispute with his 60-year-old upstairs neighbour in Margaret Drive.
Between November 2024 and January 2025, Choo reportedly used a long pole to place plastic bags of rubbish on the neighbour’s air-con ledge on 18 separate occasions. The neighbour later filed a police report, supported by CCTV footage, expressing that he felt harassed and unsafe while removing the rubbish.
A second charge, considered by the court, revealed that Choo repeated the behaviour six more times between June and August 2025.
District Judge Carol Ling imposed the S$3,000 fine, rejecting Choo’s plea for leniency on financial grounds. The court noted that failure to pay the fine would result in a 10-day jail term, with the offence carrying a maximum penalty of S$10,000.
