SINGAPORE: As a grassroots leader for more than a decade, Mr Raymond Poh is no stranger to noise complaints.
Whether it is the sweet melody of a violin, the jarring sound of drilling in a home undergoing minor renovations, or chairs being dragged across the floor, they have drawn the ire of residents over the years.
Misunderstandings often happen due to differing tolerance levels, said Mr Poh, vice-chairman of the Tampines Central Citizens’ Consultative Committee.
While it can be difficult to avoid affecting those nearby in a country as densely populated as Singapore, communication and kindness are two key factors in making the issue of noise more tolerable, he told CNA.
For instance, informing neighbours before renovation works could help prevent potential conflict, he said.
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to such complaints is determining the source of the noise, which could be transient, Mr Poh noted.
“It takes a long time for us to get who it is. At the same time, the … noise creator is always denying,” he added.
“This is something which cannot be solved easily. You need a long time for people to actually resolve it, but you need both parties to … agree upon (if) there's some issues within themselves.”
To help residents find such a middle ground, some grassroots leaders are nominated to go through mediation workshops. Among them is Mr Iswandie Wanhar, chairman of the Tampines Park Residents' Network.
During the workshop, the participants used role play to learn how to facilitate mediation, said Mr Iswandie.
“As grassroots leaders, usually … we engage the residents, we try to help them solve the problems, so we always have the solution for them,” he said.
“But in terms of mediation, it's a different role, where we need to understand. We must hear both parties, we cannot take sides, and we must communicate and try to reframe … their disputes to make them understand.”
For severe noise complaints, residents in Tampines can expect a new avenue of help from the second quarter of this year.
A new Community Relations Unit (CRU) will begin a year-long pilot in the estate to tackle complaints involving hoarding and severe noise. This follows changes to the Community Disputes Resolution Act passed in parliament on Nov 12. During its second reading, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said that over the past three years, the authorities have received around 2,500 monthly complaints about noisy neighbours.
The town was selected because it has an average caseload in Singapore, authorities previously said. The aim is to eventually expand it to other areas of the country.
Community relations officers in the CRU may deploy noise sensors to detect and measure disturbances.
When faced with perpetrators who may have underlying mental health conditions, these officers can also issue a mandatory treatment order as a last resort.
The government said it will work with partner agencies on the assessment and treatment of nuisance makers who may be having mental health issues.
If such issues are at the centre of a dispute, treatment can help but it can be tricky for these officers to make them compulsory, said Dr Oliver Suendermann, a vice president at Intellect, which provides mental health services.
“If someone receives treatment against their will, it could really instill distrust (and) resistance, and therefore not be very beneficial to any sort of noise dispute that might be there in the community,” he said.
“The community relations officer needs to have safe conversations with the resident, and ideally, get them … into treatment voluntarily.”
He added that it is important that these officers have a good understanding of mental health challenges and the skills to talk to residents in a safe, empathic and non-confrontational manner.
Psychiatrist Syed Harun Alhabsyi noted that mandatory treatment is likely to be enforced based on factors such as severity of the person's mental illness and gravity of the dispute.
However, that is just the first step, he said.
"It's important to tread it sensitively so that (we still leave room for) the eventual last piece of the resolution where the person is reintegrated back to the community," he said.
"That will determine the sustainability of the plan, to the extent where this individual continues to live there, to hopefully continue to engage in treatment and to be part of the society within the neighbourhood."
Dr Syed, medical director of The Starfish Clinic of Psychiatry & Mental Wellness, said the discussion on mental illness and mental health in general is evolving for the better.
However, stigma remains, both at the level of society, as well as at the level of the individual, said the Nominated Member of Parliament.
“To be able to slowly edge away stigma in general, it's really to have genuine, honest … conversations over (mental health),” he added.
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Whether it is the sweet melody of a violin, the jarring sound of drilling in a home undergoing minor renovations, or chairs being dragged across the floor, they have drawn the ire of residents over the years.
Misunderstandings often happen due to differing tolerance levels, said Mr Poh, vice-chairman of the Tampines Central Citizens’ Consultative Committee.
While it can be difficult to avoid affecting those nearby in a country as densely populated as Singapore, communication and kindness are two key factors in making the issue of noise more tolerable, he told CNA.
For instance, informing neighbours before renovation works could help prevent potential conflict, he said.
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to such complaints is determining the source of the noise, which could be transient, Mr Poh noted.
“It takes a long time for us to get who it is. At the same time, the … noise creator is always denying,” he added.
“This is something which cannot be solved easily. You need a long time for people to actually resolve it, but you need both parties to … agree upon (if) there's some issues within themselves.”
LEARNING TO MEDIATE
To help residents find such a middle ground, some grassroots leaders are nominated to go through mediation workshops. Among them is Mr Iswandie Wanhar, chairman of the Tampines Park Residents' Network.
During the workshop, the participants used role play to learn how to facilitate mediation, said Mr Iswandie.
“As grassroots leaders, usually … we engage the residents, we try to help them solve the problems, so we always have the solution for them,” he said.
“But in terms of mediation, it's a different role, where we need to understand. We must hear both parties, we cannot take sides, and we must communicate and try to reframe … their disputes to make them understand.”
For severe noise complaints, residents in Tampines can expect a new avenue of help from the second quarter of this year.
A new Community Relations Unit (CRU) will begin a year-long pilot in the estate to tackle complaints involving hoarding and severe noise. This follows changes to the Community Disputes Resolution Act passed in parliament on Nov 12. During its second reading, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said that over the past three years, the authorities have received around 2,500 monthly complaints about noisy neighbours.
The town was selected because it has an average caseload in Singapore, authorities previously said. The aim is to eventually expand it to other areas of the country.
BEING SENSITIVE TO MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
Community relations officers in the CRU may deploy noise sensors to detect and measure disturbances.
When faced with perpetrators who may have underlying mental health conditions, these officers can also issue a mandatory treatment order as a last resort.
The government said it will work with partner agencies on the assessment and treatment of nuisance makers who may be having mental health issues.
If such issues are at the centre of a dispute, treatment can help but it can be tricky for these officers to make them compulsory, said Dr Oliver Suendermann, a vice president at Intellect, which provides mental health services.
“If someone receives treatment against their will, it could really instill distrust (and) resistance, and therefore not be very beneficial to any sort of noise dispute that might be there in the community,” he said.
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“The community relations officer needs to have safe conversations with the resident, and ideally, get them … into treatment voluntarily.”
He added that it is important that these officers have a good understanding of mental health challenges and the skills to talk to residents in a safe, empathic and non-confrontational manner.
Psychiatrist Syed Harun Alhabsyi noted that mandatory treatment is likely to be enforced based on factors such as severity of the person's mental illness and gravity of the dispute.
However, that is just the first step, he said.
"It's important to tread it sensitively so that (we still leave room for) the eventual last piece of the resolution where the person is reintegrated back to the community," he said.
"That will determine the sustainability of the plan, to the extent where this individual continues to live there, to hopefully continue to engage in treatment and to be part of the society within the neighbourhood."
Dr Syed, medical director of The Starfish Clinic of Psychiatry & Mental Wellness, said the discussion on mental illness and mental health in general is evolving for the better.
However, stigma remains, both at the level of society, as well as at the level of the individual, said the Nominated Member of Parliament.
“To be able to slowly edge away stigma in general, it's really to have genuine, honest … conversations over (mental health),” he added.
Continue reading...