10/09/2006

how not to tell your neighbour off?

I was in the lift with this old man neighbour. Once in the lift he blared out at the haze problem and was in total disgust about how a neighbouring country could be so irresponsible, and thoughtless. We were so close, and anything they do could affect us. The burning will send the haze to us and adversely affecting us. I nodded in full agreement. Neigbours must be mindful of what they are doing and how it would affect their neighbours. So I told him once I had this thoughtless neighbours who would cook in the corridor during a festival or dry his laundry there as well. The smell was unbearable. Neighbours have to be discipline and not to do unpleasant things to neighbours or the neighbour would have no choice but to tell them off. This part I did not say as it will be too blatantly direct. I have told this neighbour off twice. He got this bad habit of stuffing a small white stick into his mouth and it would be stucked there, spraying smelly smokes into the air. And he would do that inside the lift and the lift would smell for the next few hours. Now whenever he sees me he will stub it out. But when I am not around, he will do the same and the smell in the lift will not lie. Told him off a second time about the cigarette butts at the lift lobby. He was the obvious culprit. His defence was that the cleaners will come and sweep. Anyway, to him, the lobby is clean enough compare to other HDB lobbies. He was annoyed by my airing of displeasure. At least there is no cigarette butt around since then. This is the selfish nature of man. For his own convenience he would do it. But when others did it to him, he will complain. But the haze is an international thing. It is the act of a collective group of people and with a govt that is supposed to regulate such activities and good neighbourliness.

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