Living with a smoking neighbour is beyond irritating—it’s downright frustrating when you end up spending a fortune just to cope with the constant “smell of death.” The overwhelming toxic smell not only hastens your death, shortens your lifespan but also burns your pocket. And unfortunately, in Singapore, it falls on residents to manage this issue themselves, without government intervention to enforce smoke-free air at home.
Two years ago, our nightmare began when a family of chain smokers moved in below us. It’s like living next to a 24/7 tobacco manufacturing factory! The constant stench of cigarettes is nauseating, and it’s impossible to escape from home.
They’ve earned the title of “neighbours from hell” – they’ve turned our home and lives into a living hell.
To keep our place livable and our air breathable, we’ve had to spend a ton of money on air purifiers, cleaning supplies, and other measures. It’s crazy how much extra we’ve had to shell out just to live next to these smokers. A rough calculation is as below:
Equipment Costs:
Additional Fans – $94
Air Purifier – $144 x 2 = $288
Dehumidifier – $209
Fire Insurance – $90
Air Conditioning: $5,000+ (Initial cost) + $150-$500 (Annual maintenance)
Utility Bill for Aircon – $260-$350 per month
CCTV Installation – $1200
Legal Fees:
CDRT Filing Fee $400
Lawyer Fee – $3200
Court fee, Legal photo-copy, mailing, and other expenses – $600
Medical Fees:
Accumulated Medical Bills – $4000 for a family of four
Ongoing Medical fee – $420 for a heart patient
Ongoing Medical Fee – $50 per year including high blood pressure medicine for one person
Heart check-up fee – $154.75 (after subsidiary)
In stark contrast, a single cigarette costs not even a dollar (< $1). It’s baffling how such a cheap item can wreak havoc on people’s health, lives, and finances. Our Singapore Ministry of Health promotes healthy lifestyles of HealthySG and encourages, yet allows smokers unlimited smoking and the secondhand smoke victims have to bear all the costs. Where’s the justice in that?
Who’s Responsible?
As homeowners, we pay our housing loans on time, expecting a safe and healthy living environment. Yet, the Housing Development Board (HDB) has taken no meaningful steps to address secondhand smoke and protect residents. Shouldn’t HDB hold chain smokers accountable for making neighbors’ lives miserable or at least offer some relief to those suffering the effects of secondhand and thirdhand smoke?
It’s disheartening to see government agencies provide little protection for non-smoking residents. With no policies in place to defend our right to clean air, we’re left wondering: why should we continue to support a system that doesn’t support us back?
We can only support leaders that can help to make our air at home great again!
Comments