Three of the feuding families have moved out

THREE of the original seven feuding families on the now infamous Everitt Road have moved out and since then life has been more peaceful.

The Chan family at 130B, who are at the centre of the dispute, says that calm has returned somewhat.

'It's quiet. They dare not rebut or gang up any more,' said Madam Chua Gek Eng, 71, the mother of Dr Chan Soo Yin, 47.

In the past three years, their immediate neighbours - the Tan family and the Chua family - sold their houses, citing harassment as the reason.

The Gan family, right across from the Chans at 136C, have relocated to Shanghai.

Those left are the other Chua family in 136L, the Loh family in 136B, the Ee family in 136F and Gan's parents in 136E.

But some of them contend the angst is far from over.

Mr Loh Ah Wee, 74, said that the shouting has not stopped.

'They don't dare throw things at us any more,' he said in Mandarin. 'But they still curse us when we walk past their house. I still sneak out of my back door to avoid them.'

'It's been so long, we are used to it. They will never change,' he added, sighing.

Another family member, who did not want to be named, said that the Chans still hurl abuse at their children, calling them things like bastard son.

'They also taunt us with bags full of something or other, as if to throw them at us. But we just ignore them,' he said.

A Straits Times check found that the Chans' bright spotlights - a bone of contention with neighbours because they were sometimes left on all night - are still there.

Also yesterday, Dr Chan was seen rushing out of her house with a knotted-up plastic bag full of a brown substance as her neighbour's van drove past.

She dropped the bag on the side of the road when she realised she had been spotted.

When asked if it was true that verbal abuse still went on, she screamed, referring to a particular neighbour: 'She shouted vulgarities at us and now she wants to turn things on us. This is really rich coming from her.'

Mr Chris Koh, a director at Dennis Wee Properties, said the coverage that the area has received due to the feuding residents cannot be good for property prices there.

The Straits Times understands that the former neighbours sold their properties for between $1million and $1.4 million.

'This kind of negative publicity definitely has an effect. Some people will be wary of buying a property there for sure,' Mr Koh said.

However, he added that the value would depreciate only slightly. 'People buy property based on land value. They will consider neighbours as a factor, but in the end if the price is right, it will go.'

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About the spat

1993: The Everitt Road dispute reportedly started over parking space, and escalated into a tit-for-tat war involving chains, video cameras and allegations of abuse on both sides.


2002: The quarrel drew media notice when seven families sought help from MP Chan Soo Sen.

But mediation efforts failed to resolve the conflict.

The escalating quarrels drew wide interest, with the neighbourhood attracting curious observers from outside the area.

A slew of police reports and court complaints followed.


2004: In July, Mr Chan Cheng Khoon was fined $4,000 for insulting Madam Teo Suan Moy and another neighbour, Ms Bency Chua.


2005: In November, Mr Chan was again fined for insulting another neighbour.


2006: In February, MrChan was fined the maximum $2,000 for harassing Mr Loh Beng Lee, who lived diagonally across from his house.

His 47-year-old daughter, Dr Chan Soo Yin, was fined $2,000 in January for insulting a neighbour.

2009: Dr Chan said she filed 25 magistrates' complaints against various neighbours between

2005 and 2006 - one leading to a $500 fine being imposed on Madam Tan Bee Hua, which was set aside yesterday.

She added the others were either resolved, settled or dismissed.

Source: Straits Times, 15 Aug 2009