16. Authority

Email to Public Service Commission (PSC) dated 1 Nov 10:
 
Dear Mr, Mrs, Ms and Mdm,

A Request to Look into a Complaint Against Officers at Pasir Ris HDB Branch Office

1. I attended eleven Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS): one, no MP was in session; one, I was turned away; one, with MP Charles Chong; two, with DPM Teo Chee Hean; five, with MP Ahmad Mohd Magad; one, with MP Christopher de Souza.
 
2. After my first MPS where no MP was in session, HBO (Head, Pasir Ris HDB Branch Office) wrote to inform me Mr Charles Chong had asked HDB to look into my feedback. He wrote his officers were unable to detect any undue noise from the neighbour. HBO would continue to reply in the same way to all the letters addressed to HDB from MPs.
 
3. Mr Teo turned me away because Community Centre member (CC member) told him about me. He made good when he met me at a session scheduled for Dr Ahmad Mohd Magad. At this session I noted the following: Mr Teo wrote to Pasir Ris Town Council when I requested that his letter bypassed HBO and, before meeting him, an interviewer introduced me to a CC member who lived at my block of flat. Town Council then replied I would hear from HDB soon but no officer came, and I gathered from the conversation between the interviewer and the CC member that the CC member had contact with the-people-in-the-flat-across-the-neighbour. The-people-in-the-flat-across-the-neighbour monitors the neighbour who works a trade in their flat.
 
4. I was at an impasse at the last MPS. The CC member, who interviewed me before the meeting with the MP, asked how many times I had seen the MP to mean it had been too many times and said 10.00 am with a move of his hand to indicate I could expect noise after that time. During the meeting, Dr Ahmad Mohd Magad said he would meet HBO the next day. I took it he had a message for HBO, and I noticed noise was reduced for a time afterwards.
 
5. In reply to an email referring to my blog, a member of Ulu Pandan Community Centre invited me to their MPS. There, I passed a stack of correspondence and some postings in my blog to Mr Christopher de Souza. MP Penny Low from Pasir Ris Town Council also wrote to HDB. HBO replied to me with copy to the two MPs that he had "exhausted all forms of assistance in your particular case."
 
6. HBO is the problem. The post Comment (14) shows he has extensive contacts, and the post Encounter (13) shows events that prevented me from seeking a solution. The post Record (8) shows the neighbour was stopped once before and asks what is different now.
 
7. Ministers are aware of the issue from statements made. DPM Teo Chee Hean said "the government is on the lookout for 'bold and visionary' leaders" and "the government would strive to boost the quality of public service leaders by giving them different and challenging job assignments."  In another he said "public officers will also be encouraged to keep to the logical rather than the ideological path". PM Lee Hsien Loong said "Singapore cannot 'afford a bump in the night', whether it is a financial crisis, government misbehaviour or a security problem". SM Goh Chok Tong said "many governments around the world face a trust deficit. The response in some countries has been to develop institutional checks on the government." On the same subject aired on TV, Mr Goh said complaint from citizen may be vexatious but urged to engage.
 
8. I may be wrong, but there are just too many happenings to be coincidental. One would be I have been forced to leave my flat.
 
9. I hope PSC look into the conduct of the officers. They have a relationship with the neighbour going back to '98. Other than insiders who had assisted, no one has directed attention to the problem.
 
10. My blogsite is at http://anaudienceof.blogspot2.com and http://complainproper.wordpress.com 
 
Regards,
hh
 
Observation Good Neighbour Awards are given out each year to showcase good examples. A bad example would be the neighbour who has officers on their side. The officers are acting against rules which are the opposite of community-building.
 
Much is known about the neighbour that People's Association could help persuade them by looking into the circumstances. Assuming the officers and the-people-in-the-flat-across-the-neighbour are not the obstacles, HDB could enforce if required.
 
Noise was adjusted down after Question (15) last month, but the owner still hears noise for many hours each day. Work is through the day. Rumble and continual knock from machine-tools most of the time. Heavy thump, clear knock and dropping of object at other times. One day last week, the continual knock was intentional. It started at 3.00 am and became louder towards the morning. They were telling the owner what they could do. The day before, the owner saw the neighbour's wife and her two children as he was going out from his flat. Coming back two and a half hours later he saw her again on her way out. Such signalling to the owner happened before. The neighbour is assisted by the-people-in-the-flat-across-the-neighbour who watches the owner.  
 
The owner has the problem with the neighbour for more than three years now, but the problem started with the first owner of the flat. After an eviction in '99 the flat was transferred to the neighbour to continue with the same line of work. Both times action were not taken to the officers who facilitated the transfer of the flat from the first owner to the neighbour and who abetted the neighbour. If the nature of his complaint were untrue, the owner would have been put straight a long time ago.
 
PSC has replied to the owner's email above. They replied with "Re: [Spam]" inserted into the heading "A Request to Look into a Complaint Against Officers at Pasir Ris HDB Branch Office". Below, the automated reply thanked the owner for his email and stated they would reply within 3 working days. There was, of course, no reply.
 
The owner's email was also sent to members of PSC, but not all its members have their email addresses listed. The owner hopes they could be informed so that all members of the commission would know of the problem.