Life staying at level 2 of a HDB actually.

It means I can hear people talking clearly during events on the ground floor. We call this void deck in Singapore.

There is a funeral at the void deck these few days. I was awaken by constant laughs in the middle of the night. I thought I was down on my luck so I could hear laughs from the nether world. Either that it must be my imagination. Who the hell laughs so happily at a funeral in the middle of the night anyway?

I checked the time as I got up. Not 3am. Phew.

Lo and behold, a group of middle age folks sitting around a table was exploding in laughter as I approached.

“Hi, sorry to bother you. I stay upstairs and I can hear you. Can you lower your volume please?”

They apologised profusely but my sleep is already disrupted. I’ve been lying in bed for the past two hours without success in falling back to sleep and I’m having a headache.

I must stress that talking to people in the middle of the night is easier than talking to RC members.

When we first moved in 3.5 years ago, it seemed like every major event in the GRC was held under my block.

A stage erected every now and then. Hubby and I could not even hear each other talk when someone was having an open karaoke session on the stage.

“Oh, cost savings,” they said when we mentioned the stage. The irony of it was there is a permanent stage 100 metres away.

I even found a canvas covering my window one fine day. Hello! Fire safety regulations?

Best reply we got from the chairman was, “Who ask you to stay on second floor.”

I may be an auntie but I am educated. That was the last straw.

“Hi MP, we would like to provide some feedback,” we said during meet the MP (Member of Parliament) session.

No more stage and open karaoke after that but more blood donation drives.

We do get smoke coming in from burning of offerings but we are tolerant and respectful when it comes to religion and culture.

Using taxpayers money to erect stages on enjoyment for selected group of people? NOPE!

Hubby and I are known as the couple that stay on second floor every time they bump into us now. None of them dare to look at us in the eye anymore. 😎

How we got to purchase an overpriced second floor resale flat in a mature estate is a separate story.

Enjoy your Sunday.