Vandals deface Marsiling HDB block: Stairwell walls from 16th to 21st storeys marked with drawings

By Yeo Sam Jo
The Straits Times
June 15, 2016

Marsiling-Yew Tee Town Council has lodged a police report after one of the Housing Board blocks in its estate was vandalized.

Residents of Block 9, Marsiling Drive noticed on Sunday that parts of their block's facade had been defaced with black paint.

The walls outside the stairwell from the 16th to 21st storeys were marked with drawings of things such as a fish skeleton, a traffic light, an eye and a triangle.

Salesman Wang Jia Sheng, 50, said he believes the culprit did it on Sunday, as he did not notice the graffiti when he left home in the morning but spotted it when he returned that evening.

"There is no artistic value to this graffiti at all. It's very unsightly," Mr Wang told Shin Min.

Some residents said they started noticing a suspicious stranger pacing around the block's lift landings about two months ago.

"That man would always move around the different lift landings," said 19-year-old warehouse worker Liu Jian Hao.

Beautician Lai Li Jun, 26, said: "I have lived here for over a year and nothing like this has happened, so I believe a stranger did it."

Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MP Alex Yam, who is chairman of the town council, told The Straits Times that the vandalized walls were repainted yesterday morning, after the police and town council took photos for evidence.

"The town council and our agency partners take a serious view on vandalism of public property," said Mr Yam.

He added that the matter will be investigated thoroughly.

He said: "We urge residents who may have seen anyone suspicious to come forward to assist the police with their investigations."