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Singapore

Chanting noises at Compassvale Drive cause weeks of ‘headache’ for residents

Residents of Block 201C, Compassvale Drive said they have been disturbed by weeks of chanting and knocking noises since the start of the year.

Residents of Block 201C, Compassvale Drive have been plagued by weeks of chanting and knocking noises, Jan 30, 2023. (Photo: CNA/Davina Tham)

SINGAPORE: Since the start of the year, some residents at Compassvale Drive have been plagued by chanting and knocking noises that can be heard at all hours of the day and night.

The sounds, described by residents as an audio recording of sutra chanting and knocking on a “wooden fish” – a ceremonial instrument used by Buddhists – could not be heard when CNA visited the flats on Monday morning (Jan 30).

But several residents said they had been hearing the noises for weeks, most recently on Sunday. Most of those affected live in a corner of Block 201C, Compassvale Drive.

A resident on the 11th floor who only wanted to be known as Mr Choo, 67, said the noises could be heard in his home at all hours of the day and night and were “very loud”.

When it first started, Mr Choo thought the noises came from a wake and would only last a few days. He estimated it has now been two weeks.

The noises have woken him up in the middle of the night, so he has taken to closing the windows of his master bedroom before going to sleep.

Mr Choo believed the sounds were from a recording because “they cannot be so amazing (as to chant and knock) from morning for several hours, it’s impossible”.

“When I go to sleep and wake up in the middle of the night, it’s still that sound. When I wake up in the morning, it’s that sound again,” he said in Mandarin.

Another resident on the fifth floor who only wanted to be known as Ms Grace, 50, has also had difficulty falling asleep because of the noise.

It can be heard the “whole day” from her bedrooms and kitchen, and has been affecting her since the start of January, she said.

An unsigned handwritten notice calling for an end to the noise was affixed to the wall near the ground floor lift lobby when CNA visited.

“Be considerate to your neighbors and lower down your volume or close off your windows,” it read.

UPSTAIRS NEIGHBOUR

A 71-year-old resident of Block 201C, who declined to give his name, said he believed the noise came from the flat directly above his.

The resident recalled that when he moved into the flat a decade ago, he also had similar problems with his neighbor upstairs.

At the time, he tried asking the neighbor to lower the volume. The neighbor did not open the door to him, but started playing recordings from a speaker set on a chair outside the front door, he claimed.

The neighbor whom the resident was referring to did not answer the door when CNA visited.

“It was very much a headache because we had to get up for work last time. Our kids were still small and had to study, it was a headache,” the 71-year-old man said in Mandarin.

Blocks 201B and 201C Compassvale Drive, where residents have been plagued by chanting and knocking noises, Jan 30, 2023. (Photo: CNA/Davina Tham)

Ground floor resident Mr Mohammad Shafie Rusli, 26, recalled hearing the chanting and knocking noises from November last year.

Mr Shafie, who comes home from work at around 2am to 3am, said that the sounds are already ongoing when he reaches home, and continue through the night.

The noises are so loud that he at first suspected they came from his own block, which is separated from Block 201C by a fitness corner and a small path.

“It doesn’t disturb me … I’m just very curious where is it from, that’s all,” he said.

“Because it’s their religious (practice) and I do respect their religious (practice). So the only curious part for me is that, where is it from? Which unit? That’s all.

” Mr Choo similarly said that he has not asked around to find out the source. Neither has he lodged a complaint.

“When people chant sutras you can’t interfere,” he said. “Because this is their religion. You can’t say (to them), you can’t do this. The most you can do is ask them to lower the volume.

” CNA has contacted Sengkang Town Council for comment.

Source:CNA/dv(gr) //https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/201c-compassvale-drive-chanting-neighbour-noise-pollution-3241076 ?cid=internal_sharetool_iphone_18052023_cna