2 hours Ago By Winnie Li
A piece of paper with a nasty handwritten note was pasted on a 42-year-old Singaporean woman's letterbox on the ground floor of her Housing and Development Board (HDB) block in Toa Payoh. The note in Chinese read: "China woman come Singapore die. [Her family member] China man come Singapore die.
[...
] China woman's father die. China man's offspring die. China woman's daughter die.
China man's father die." Upon noticing the paper, the woman alerted the police at around 6:15pm on Apr. 1, 2023.
Her husband had already reported previous instances where such notes were found. Investigations subsequently revealed that the pieces of paper were put up by the woman's male neighbour, 55-year-old Singaporean Kow Fang Loke. According to Kow, he did so "to show his displeasure" towards the woman "following a dispute that he had with her about the noise that her daughter had made at night".
Kow's relatives & victim have been neighbours for 11 years Court documents seen by Mothership stated that Kow was living with his uncle and aunt at the time of his offence. The victim and Kow's relatives have been neighbours for around 11 years. However, a few years after the victim and her family moved in next door, Kow "started verbally abusing them" and "pasting papers on their letterbox".
According to the victim, the notes started appearing sometime around Mar. 13, 2023, and the note she saw on Apr. 1 was only one example.
Kow admitted to affixing paper During the investigations, Kow admitted to having pasted paper onto his neighbour's letterbox "on multiple occasions". However, he "could not remember specific occasions on which he had done it". A photograph of the paper affixed to the victim's letterbox, which was included in court documents, showed a Toto receipt was also pasted on the letterbox.
Image via court documents However, the receipt appeared to contain only numbers, and court documents did not reveal who left it there. Affixed more paper after victim alerted police It appeared that the victim's police report on Apr. 1, 2023 was not enough to deter Kow.
Just two days later, she dialled the police hotline again after she saw yet another paper on her letterbox with "scolding words" written on it. Investigations subsequently revealed that Kow affixed two pieces of paper on the victim's letterbox with writings in Chinese characters at around 8:31pm on Apr. 3.
Similar to the note the victim found on Apr. 1, the pieces of paper contained "insulting words", such as "China woman come Singapore die". A photograph of the pieces of paper also indicated that one of them was a Toto receipt.
Image via court documents While a Toto ticket was also affixed to the letterbox, court documents did not disclose who had left it there. Smashed victim's flowerpots On Jun. 3, 2024, the police received another complaint from the victim.
This time, the victim accused Kow of going towards her "with [a pair of] scissors and [a] knife", "damaging her flowerpots", and "throwing rubbish outside her door". Investigations later revealed that prior to the incident, the victim was talking to Kow's uncle and aunt about Kow littering along the corridor. Upon overhearing this, Kow became "unhappy" and began berating the victim and his relatives.
After stepping out from his unit, Kow proceeded to smash at least two of the victim's flowerpots, which were lined along the corridor, by throwing them on the ground. Kow then returned to his flat. According to court documents, no restitution was made to the victim, and the value of the flowerpots could not be ascertained.
Jailed 5 weeks For his actions, Kow was sentenced to five weeks' jail on Sep. 27 after pleading guilty to one harassment charge and one mischief charge, reported Shin Min Daily News . The victim also told Shin Min that over the years, she and her family had tried their best to avoid confronting Kow, as they were "concerned about their offspring's safety".
This was because, usually, only their domestic helper would be at home looking after their offspring after she and her husband left for work. "Every time Kow littered things outside, our offspring would become so terrified that they would run straight into their rooms," recounted the victim. According to the victim, she had called the police at least five times to complain about Kow, and his elderly relatives also apologised to her family for Kow's deeds.
The victim said her family is now "able to find peace again" and "build a harmonious relationship with their elderly neighbours". Top image via court documents.
