Love Thy Neighbour

Well, in my case, it will be quite a challenge. See, I have Ms Nosy Parker Peeping Tom the area volunteer for Neighbourhood Watch on my left. And on my right are the new neighbours who just moved in in early August: I just discovered that the new neighbours have a very bad, irresponsible habit of throwing rubbish into the drain. I happened to look into the drain on Saturday morning as I was leaving for a reunion of sorts and was annoyed to find it full of bottles and cans.

When I got back that afternoon, I actually went into the drain to clear it and found cans and bottles of motor engine oil and shampoo, a dirty floor-mat and a vehicle license sticker (OK, whatever you call it). I was about to throw the sticker away when I thought of looking at the vehicle number printed and whaddya know, it matched the Honda CRV parked in my neighbour’s porch. Well, fie on you: you drive a fancy vehicle and yet don’t have enough common sense to dispose of your garbage thoughtfully. They were pulling out of the driveway on Sunday when I unlocked my gate and when I stepped out, I looked pointedly into the drain to (hopefully) give the message that I’m checking to see that the drain is clear of rubbish. (You don’t have to be the self-appointed City Hall rep in that area to know that it’s stupid and irresponsible to clog the drain!)

The new neighbours also bothered me two weekends ago with hammering and knocking noises all throughout the weekend... even at 9 pm (for 20 minutes or so), 11 pm (yes, you read it right) and... at midnight. I did consider knocking back on the wall to let them know the noise was bothering me, or I could ring their doorbell but that’d mean dressing up decently, donning the head-scarf and all – and I hadn’t met them properly so it really wouldn’t be nice to be ringing their doorbell at midnight, introduce myself as their neighbour and knock some common sense into them, err, I mean, ask politely if they could lower down the noise volume or turn it off altogether. Thankfully the midnight hammering didn’t last long. Oh but the next day (yes, Sunday Morning no less), it started again with a vengeance at 8.30 am. And that afternoon I had to endure nerve-wrecking noise of endless drilling. Thankfully, I saw the man of the house later that evening as I was about to water the lawn and after acknowledging him, asked what they were doing. And when I asked about the hammering the night before, he actually asked back if I could hear the sound. Like hello, how could anyone turn a deaf ear to that racket?

The noise reduced considerably after our short conversation. And so far, it hadn’t returned. But I do hope I won’t have to keep clearing the drain of the rubbish dumped in there.

Excuse me while I let off Steam and air my annoyance and irritation here.

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Apart from the unplanned activity of clearing the drain, the weekend was one of late nights – I don’t do this often - and hectic days of rushing here and there and in between, doing household chores and a bit of entertaining too! I’m sleepy and still a bit tired from lack of rest. My Japanese friend calls it the Sazae-san syndrome. Sazae-san is an animated cartoon that has been broadcasted in Japan for almost 40 years. Apparently all Japanese know this story of a peaceful family; it is shown every Sunday evening on TV at 6:30pm. According to her, some viewers will get a headache after watching this cartoon, feel nervous, and basically not want to do anything, suffer sleepless Sunday nights etc... because they remember and are reminded of work or school the next day. (Sorry if I don’t explain it well, but that’s what I understand from her explanation).

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It’s 9/11 today. Let’s spare some time to remember the deceased. I do hope they hadn’t died a pointless or meaningless death.