Volunteers Launch Cleanup at Toa Payoh Flat Housing Three Elderly Siblings Living in Dangerous Clutter

For about 20 years, three elderly siblings have been living in a very cluttered flat in Toa Payoh.

They don’t have any other family to help them, so they only have each other. Now, a group of volunteers is stepping in to clear the mess and help them out.

The sister, 78-year-old Madam Ou Yayang, lives in the flat with her older brother, 87, and younger brother, 67. She said that their lives were already difficult when their parents were alive, but they got even harder after they passed away.

Mdm Ou also has to take care of her older brother, who has heart problems. She often has to bring him to the hospital, which is very hard for her because she is elderly herself. She added that since none of them are married, there is nobody else to look after them.

To earn money for things like shampoo and soap, Mdm Ou collects cardboard from nearby coffee shops every day. She said she makes several trips a day, but no matter how much she works, she only earns about S$6 to S$7. She relies on the kindness of vendors at the coffee shops for food.

When reporters visited her at 10 pm, she had just gotten home with a cart full of cardboard and looked very tired. She explained that she has to work until midnight every day and can’t relax, or she won’t have enough money.

The flat is so full of things that it gives off a smell that you can notice from the doorway. It was hard to even walk in the living room because of all the clutter. This mess has also caused problems with rats getting into the corridor. A next-door neighbor said the rats appear almost daily, and the bad smell from the flat forces him to keep his windows and doors closed. He also worried about his elderly mother, who uses a wheelchair, not being able to get out if there was a fire. Mdm Ou said the mess has been a problem for decades, and she wanted to fix it, but couldn’t.

Fortunately, the charity group Helping Joy is now helping the siblings to clean the flat. On a Sunday, 35 volunteers arrived at the flat with cleaning supplies. The founder of the charity, Steven Goh, 47, said there was so much trash that volunteers had to form a line to pass trash bags down the stairs. The clean-up was still going on when the news was reported. The charity had also asked for donations of money or items like a kitchen stove cabinet, and plastic drawers for the family.