Neighbour’s noisy parrot ruffles Sengkang resident
The bird’s constant squawking disturbed the family’s sleep, he claimed.
And the man was so incensed by the noise that he has made multiple police reports against his neighbour, who bought the pet about six months ago.
The man, surnamed Zhang, who lives on the 12th floor of Block 174B Sengkang Avenue 1, told Shin Min Daily News that his neighbour on the floor below him had put the bird’s cage outside the kitchen window, just metres away from where his mother sleeps.
“I need kidney dialysis, my mother isn’t in good health and she needs to rest. Now I can’t rest in the morning nor sleep at night,” the 50-year-old property manager said.
His mother also found the parrot annoying: “I hear the bird squawking every morning, it wakes me up from my sleep, and I’ve been feeling depressed because of it.”
As the 86-year-old woman has difficulty walking, her bed was placed near the window – three or four metres away from where Zhang’s neighbour, a man surnamed Zeng, hangs his parrot’s cage.
Zeng, who Shin Min also spoke to, brushed aside Zhang’s complaints. The 68-year-old rag-and-bone man admitted that the parrot would squawk quite often when he first brought it home, but had since stopped making such frequent noises.
“It only squawks once or twice in the morning. [Zhang] is being too sensitive and is exaggerating,” he said.
Another resident, surnamed Chen, told the Chinese daily that he could hear the bird, but wasn’t affected by it.
“I thought it was a bird perched on one of the walls. It’s not very loud. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with rearing birds,” he said.
Zeng revealed that police officers have visited his home a few times to investigate and said he contemplated selling the bird. But in the end, he decided he did not want to part with his pet.
The police, in response to Shin Min’s queries, confirmed that they had received such reports.
In May this year, the Ministry of National Development said in a written statement that flat owners are allowed to keep small pets such as birds, as long as they do not cause a nuisance and disturbance to the neighbours and living environment.
However, if the pets disturb other residents, flat owners will be asked to “exercise control over the pet and take measures to stop the nuisance”.
Recalcitrant flat owners will be asked to rehome their pets, with assistance from animal welfare groups if needed, the ministry added.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now