Bedok Central

[DSA 0]

Linear Greeners, if your bedroom/living room faces another LG unit, look out for High-Rise Littering which may very well become high-rise killer litter if not stopped in time.

Knowing the exact unit of the block will provide invaluable lead for ECTC to act against such terrible acts.

Dec 15, 2009

Killer litter flowerpot injures guest at wedding

By Carolyn Quek and Mavis Toh

The suspect, whom neighbours said started acting erratic a year ago, being led away by police on Sunday. --PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS

FOR months, residents of Block 206D Compassvale Lane in Sengkang have had to live with half-eaten food, water bottles and even sanitary pads raining down on them.

Worried that someone could get hurt, several reported to the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council. There were six complaints in the last three months alone.

But before the problem could be stopped, the residents' worst fears came to pass at the weekend, while a two-day wedding celebration was being held there.

On Saturday evening, wedding guest Kasman Samat, 48, was struck on the head by a flowerpot. The hotel trainee manager, a father of three, is warded at Changi General Hospital with fractures to his head and injuries to his face.

Several other wedding guests, including a four-year-old girl, had close shaves, as another pot and a bottle of chilli sauce came hurtling down the same day.

Late on Sunday afternoon, police arrested a 34-year-old woman living on the top floor of the 16-storey block, after she was seen throwing another bottle of chilli sauce from her flat.

But the arrest was not without drama, as the woman locked herself in.

Firemen used a power saw to cut the lock on her front door, and four Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team officers rappelled from the building's roof and into her bedroom through the window.

Meanwhile, an inflatable pack was set up at the foot of the block, as several residents and wedding guests watched.

The crowd clapped and cheered as police led the woman away.

The woman's neighbours said she moved into her five-room flat about three years ago with her husband, and he moved out a year ago.

Around that time, her behaviour also became increasingly erratic, they said.

Tami, a 27-year-old Indonesian maid from two doors away, said the woman would always shout at her in Mandarin whenever she walked past her flat.

Others on the same floor said that in recent months, the woman could be heard screaming and shouting vulgarities every day, sometimes late at night. They, too, had close encounters with killer litter.

Retail supervisor Serene Soh, 39, said her car had been struck by half a honeydew melon before.

Just last month, security guard Kiang Loong Tiang, 41, who lives in the next block, was walking his two young children to the kindergarten at Block 206D when a glass bottle came crashing down.

He said he wrote to the town council immediately. 'It is not about my children's safety only. I knew it was just a matter of time when an injury or death would happen.'

It happened on Saturday. Mr Kasman was standing with relatives at the foot of the block when the incident happened.

Mr Kasman was unconscious for five minutes after the flowerpot hit the left side of his head, according to his son, student Aliff Kurniawan, 21. 'The impact was so great that it shattered the flowerpot, and my dad's songkok was torn.'

The impact left the hotel trainee manager with multiple head fractures, bleeding in the skull and swelling of the brain.

He was in the hospital's high dependency unit for two days and was unable to speak. The wound on his forehead needed seven stitches.

When The Straits Times visited him yesterday, Mr Kasman could only say that his head hurt and that he did not remember what happened.

Mr Aliff said that after the incident, people in the area told his family that killer litter had been raining down there for some time. He said: 'You shouldn't wait till someone gets hurt to take action. It is a very dangerous act and involves someone's life.'

When contacted, a spokesman for the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council said it received six complaints about high-rise littering from residents of Block 206D in the past three months. But the residents did not know where the culprit lived, so the block's property officer went door to door advising residents against littering. The National Environment Agency was also alerted, and fliers were distributed.

The town council spokesman said that officers had gone to the 16th-floor unit, but no one answered the door when they knocked. Town council and NEA officers also conducted a joint inspection last Friday but no one was seen littering.

'If we know the unit, we will focus on it and bring in different agencies like the police and residents' committee to curb the littering,' said the spokesman.

Dec 16, 2009

Woman charged over killer litter

ELENA CHONG

A WOMAN was charged in court yesterday with throwing a bottle of chilli sauce from her 16th-floor HDB flat in Compassvale Lane.

Thiang Ai Lian, 34, is said to have committed an act so rash as to endanger the personal safety of others, when she allegedly pitched the bottle out of her bedroom window to the ground floor at about 2pm on Sunday.

Any person convicted of throwing killer litter may be fined up to $2,500 or jailed for up to six months, or both. The Housing Board can also acquire a flat or terminate the tenancy of a rental flat if residents flout this law.

No plea was taken from the bespectacled woman with shoulder-length hair. The prosecution asked that she be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric assessment.

Thiang claimed she was doing her laundry and did not know what had happened. 'I just want to speak to my lawyer,' she told District Judge Lee Poh Choo.

She added that she had been in police custody for 72 hours, and that investigators had refused to let her make a call. When the judge told her that she could do so later, Thiang said: 'Thank you.'

Edited December 16, 2009 by DSA

[yokoyoko 0]

Hi yoko:

do u have the email address? Can sent to me?

Thanks...

here u go -> bbdadmin@hdb.gov.sg

[DSA 0]

HDB Launches Site For Mixed Commercial and Residential Development at New Upper Changi Road/ Bedok North Drive Under The Reserve List System

The Housing & Development Board (HDB), as an agent for the Government, is making available on 16 Dec 09 Land Parcel Bedok P1 for application under the Reserve List System of the Government Land Sales Programme.

Location    New Upper Changi Road/ Bedok North Drive (see location plan in Annex 1 (867KB)).

Proposed Development    Mixed Commercial and Residential Development Integrated with Bus Interchange

Site Area    24,902.2 sq m

Permissible Gross Floor Area 87,157.7 sq m

Approx. Gross Plot Ratio     3.5

Lease Term    99 years

Under the Reserve List System, a developer who is interested in purchasing the land can submit his application indicating the minimum price that he is willing to pay for the land. Upon acceptance of his application, HDB will put up the land for sale by tender.

[hihihi 0]

that land parcel P1 they have plans to make it into something like AMK hub like that... with integrated aircon interchange and above is houses.

[DSA 0]

[Logging purpose]

Position of sun at 10:50 am Wed 16.12.2009 is +40° East.

Position of sun at 11:30 am Wed 16.12.2009 is +30° East.

Edited December 16, 2009 by DSA

[DSA 0]

Working Together For a Killer Litter-Free Living Environment

Date Issued : 17 Dec 2009

With more than 80% of Singaporeans living in high-rise HDB flats, it is important that every HDB resident plays an active role in building a safe living environment for all.
The HDB would like to urge residents to play an active part in eradicating killer litter. The recent incident in Sengkang where a guest at a void deck function was injured by killer litter is a serious reminder of the dire consequences of killer litter.

On-going Efforts

The Housing & Development Board (HDB) has been working with town councils (TCs), grassroots organisations and religious organisations to educate residents on the danger of killer litter. On-going enforcement actions were also taken against residents who placed or hung objects in a dangerous manner that pose a threat to public safety.

These efforts have enhanced residents' awareness of the danger of killer litter in HDB estates. The number of warnings served on residents by HDB and TCs for placing objects in a dangerous manner has reduced by about 40%, from about 7,800 per month in 2007 to about 4,650 per month in 2008. However, in the first eight months of 2009, there was a slight increase to 4,900 warnings per month.

Public Education on Killer Litter
HDB is embarking on a public education campaign over the next few months to urge residents to adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards potential killer litter.
HDB will be sending advisory letters to all HDB households and displaying posters on all notice boards in HDB estates.

Some examples of potential killer litter are:

• Items hung from bamboo pole holders (e.g. potted plants)
• Items placed horizontally on the bamboo pole holders (e.g. brooms and mops)
• tems placed on parapet wall and/or window ledge (e.g. flower pots)
• Items hung from ceiling above the parapet wall (e.g. bird cages)

Generally, items that are attached or hung from parts of the buildings such that they may fall to the ground level under certain circumstances, are considered potential killer litter.
Annex A shows photos of common potential killer litter.

Residents can play their part to eradicate killer litter by observing some basic "Do's and Don'ts"

Do's

• Remove / relocate objects that are placed in a dangerous manner;
• Encourage your family, friends and neighbours to remove objects that are placed in a dangerous manner;
• Observe proper use of bamboo pole holders (e.g. not placing bamboo poles in a "criss-cross" manner)
• Share with your family, friends and neighbours the consequences of potential killer litter
• Alert your Town Council when you see instances of killer litter [Identification of the unit from which the killer litter is released is a must to apprehend the mofos]

Don'ts

• Do not place objects on the ledges of windows / balconies;
• Do not place objects on the parapet walls of common corridors;
• Do not hang items above the parapet walls / balconies;
• Do not throw objects from your flat or from the common areas;
• Do not tie / hang objects from the bamboo pole holders (e.g. shopping trolleys, cooking woks, bicycles, etc)
• Do not place objects in a manner that may endanger the safety of the general public

Enforcement

HDB takes a serious view of any irresponsible or negligent act that endangers the safety of others in public housing estates.
HDB will not hesitate to take strong action against recalcitrant offenders, including bringing offenders to court and in serious cases, compulsorily acquiring the flat.

Safe and Pleasant Living Environment

By observing simple Do's and Don'ts, residents can play their part to eliminate killer litter from HDB estates.
Together with HDB and the TCs, residents can create a safe and pleasant living environment for themselves, their families and the community. Edited December 18, 2009 by DSA

[seraphinee 0]

A day early, but just in case I can't find time to log on tomorrow, I wanted to wish all Linear Greeners here a Merry X'mas! Have a great X'mas weekend!

[hihihi 0]

I was away when the flush was changed to a dual flush. The flushing is indeed stronger.

[big orange 0]

Dear all,

First of all, thank you so much for taking time to resolve resident issue.

As per today testing with Mr Tan from Surbana, his contractor and 2 pcs Tau Kwa.

The results of this experiment are as per below

Condition of the toilet bowl is CLEAN without any residue.

* Water flushing level - the highest point of water observed in the toilet bowl during flushing.

1st Tau Kwa, 1st flush

Result - Tau Kwa residue still clearly seen after 1st flush

water flushing level - normal

2nd Tau Kwa, 1st flush

Result - Tau Kwa residue still clearly seen after 1st flush

water flushing level - a bit high

2nd Tau Kwa, 2nd flush

Result - There is still traces of small Tau Kwa + foreign material (brown) after 2nd flush

water flushing level - high

As the above still unable to solve, Mr Tan suggest goodwill of dual flush system. We proceed to install on the common toilet.

New system, many flush...

Result - there is still trace of small tau kwa + foreign material (brown)

water flushing level - very high

Suspect - choke.

Let be rational here, the experiment condition with the supporting result really show there is no problem?

I hope all of you understand the crux of the problem here.

My claim/feedback are:

1. every time when we are passing motion in the toilet bowl, we will need to 2x time flush. then the toilet bowl will be CLEAN w/o residue.

2. We can observed residue in the toilet bowl after 2x time flushing despite we make it a point to check that the toilet bowl is CLEAN w/o residue at the time of flushing. This happen after a period of time, and we will observe the residue.

Now that we have a suspected choke on our HDB toilet bowl, it will be with no doubt causing us a lot of inconvienece ahead the coming new year.

Anyway please do what you can to solve the problem which I've explained many many times. Both verbally and in this email.

On the fair side, Mr Tan from Surbana will bring in his plumber after the new year and we as HDB owner really hope everything will be ok and no "MORE" problems.

Thank you and have a good holiday ahead.

Mine still not solve today! ARRGHHHH....

[hihihi 0]

Mine still not solve today! ARRGHHHH....

huaaa.... doing DOE sia..

btw, anyone here getting their WC changed as a result of the poor flushing?

Edited January 3, 2010 by hihihi

[DSA 0]

So the HDB lessees in Linear Green, whose hardworking backs maybe burdened to the point of fatal fracture with housing loans of quantum which may range from $XX,XXX to $4XX,XXX, incurring at least 2.6% annual interest up to THIRTY long years [till borrowers reach age of 65] to a maximum 78% interest, ie the lessee pays $160,200, more if a bank loan is taken, for every borrowed $100k value of the HDB flat, are paying the monetary penalty inflicted by China Construction's certain construction workers hired from PRC with dismal workmanship, more like the lack of workmanship actually, and/or sub-standard toilet bowl by local firm Rigel, every single time that nice shiny silver round button is pressed?

NEA encourages SAVING precious resources such as water & energy but HDB lessess do not have any say in the type of water cistern & more importantly, the design of the toilet bowl's nozzles that can create a whirpool effect that can suck any debris into the sewage drainage hole.

So the onus is on HDB and thus SIC.

Does the SIC architect puts much thought in his designs of Linear Green units & consider choices of fixtures to achieve these objectives?

I am highly skeptical of the amount of cerebral input by the SIC architect.

Just look at the placement of power sockets in the units of Linear Green.

How many are NOT utilised at all?

They are not utilised not because there are more than adequate power sockets within reach but solely because the placement of some power sockets is done without deploying design logic or worse, rational thought.

How many Linear Greeners have appliances or electronic devices sucking electricity from the single power outlet closest to the window in the living room?

How many Linear Greeners find they could use one additional power outlet on the pillar closest to the window in the MBR?

Edited January 6, 2010 by DSA

[yokoyoko 0]

Dual flush cannot solve the prob? it solve mine...

anyone find their signal reception poor in LG? both mobile n domestic deck phone...

[DSA 0]

According to Linear Green RC, the mobile phone base stations are located at the MSCPs = your mobile phone is far from and blocked with no straight line of sight to the MSCPs.

If the location of the base stations are still limited to the MSCPs, then together with the layout of the two rows of Linear Green blocks, the strength of mobile comms signals in units far from either ends of Linear Green will remain wanting & weak.

As for your cordless DECT phone, relocate the base station for better reception - the reinforced walls in Linear Green units effectively halts SHF such as 1.90 GHz, 2.4 GHz as EMF of such frequency = low energy are unable to penetrate reinforced concrete structures. EHF such as radioactivity, X-rays, Gamma & Kryptonian radiation are able to penetrate such structures.

[DSA 0]

Linear Green wins 3 awards at Top HDB Business Partners At HDB Awards 2009 for its contractor & architectural consultant.

The HDB Awards recognises its business partners for delivering high standards in public housing projects
- in recognition of their commitment towards excellence in
architectural designs [MAH DUDE! Where's the EXCELLENCE?!
BCA gave a uber low score of 78.9% on the architectural works which deals with the aesthetic of the building such as finishes and components.
This is the part where the quality and standard of workmanship are most visible.], innovative and quality finishing [HAR???!!! Where's the quality when numerous MK light switches break on the impact of a simple finger thump?!], and environmentally sustainable features.HDB should really add 1 more category of WORKMANSHIP.........

When tenders for construction of HDB flats are awarded to the lowest bidder who is bent on maximising its own self profit, the result is usually sub-optimal. Edited January 26, 2010 by DSA

[yokoyoko 0]

Yo..noted... tks

However, I have contacted Singtel since a year back on the weak reception, they acknowledged and feedback to me that by Dec 2009 (earliest by Sep 2009), the base stations will be completely installed. After a year, i still have missed calls, delayed smses, not able to call out and even my friends visiting me commented on the poor reception.. occasionally, mobile phone shown no signal even til now.. it is a bit ridiculous to have this kind of service for a year. Now they are telling me that they have just got the approval from HDB to access their base stations to troubleshoot.. need to wait for 3 more months.. with no guarantee.. which means i have to wait for 1.4 months for them to rectify this problem..

For location wise, i don't think its the issue.. There were 2 occasions that i could not even made a phone call in MSCP until i hit the road.. Base stations can easily covered 2 rolls of flats.. and my unit is not the furthest from MSCP... I don't think this is their 1st time installing base station so such problem should be easily rectified i believe...

That is y i want to ask ard if anyone have such problem til now.. poor reception.

BTW today there was an indian guy that came to my unit and asked for $$ - story is mother admitted to hospital... so beware of such character... early 40 yrs, plump and in checker shirt and black pant... suspected to be con-man...

Edited January 13, 2010 by yokoyoko