Telok Blangah residents living with cockroaches for past 20 years -- and now maggots are here too

The New Paper
Jun 27, 2023

Parents yearn to hear their babies' first words, waiting for a "mama" or "dada" from their little ones.

But a 25-year-old administrative assistant had to settle for "cockroach". That's because her family has been grappling with a cockroach infestation in her HDB block in Telok Blangah.

"When my two-year-old daughter first learnt to speak, she pointed at the door and said 'cockroach'.

"I think that's because we used that word so often at home," she told Shin Min Daily News on June 25.

Other residents have also been dealing with this issue for a long time.

Mr Shen, 64, said that dozens of cockroaches would scutter around the common corridor as well as his doorstep every day for the past 20 years.

At least five roaches would also fly into his home, he said, adding that he used more than four bottles of insecticide every month to kill the pests.

"They are everywhere. It's too much," Mr Shen said.

The cockroach problem could be caused by a neighbour's hoarding habit.

Mr Shen said that the cockroaches came from his next-door neighbours on the 10th floor.

They are a pair of brothers and the younger one could be seen rummaging through rubbish for items to bring home, he claimed.

When Shin Min reporters visited the area, there were bags of items placed outside the flat, which gave out an odour.

Mr Shen now has to deal with maggots crawling on his doorstep too.

"Seeing the maggots is a first for me. I'm not sure if (my neighbours) have rotten meat at home," he said.

"There's nothing we can do since (they ignored us). So we just have to clean up by ourselves."

Another resident said that her family had to catch cockroaches that crept into their flat.

"My mother and I are the only ones at home who dare to deal with them," 21-year-old Ms Cai said.