A 63-year-old
man was accidentally locked in his rental flat after HDB officers
changed the lock to repossess the flat due to rental arrears.
(Yahoo! file photo)
Imagine being locked inside your flat without food or water for a
day. At least that’s what a 63-year-old elderly man experienced
after finding himself locked inside his rental flat in Bukit
Merah.
Officers from the Housing Development Board (HDB) had changed the
locks to his two-room rental flat at Henderson Road on Monday
afternoon without realising the man, who wanted to be known as Mr
Liao, was still inside, The New Paper reported.
Apparently, officers did that to repossess the flat as it had been
in rental arrears amounting to $2,000 for more than three years,
the paper said.
According to local Chinese tabloid Shin Min Daily, Liao was not
able to respond well to questions posed by its
reporter.
On this issue, an HDB spokesman told TNP that referrals have been
made to the family service centre and Institute of Mental Health
(IMH) to assist him but it has not been successful as Liao was not
responsive.
When officers first arrived at the flat, they found the main door
wide open and, despite repeated calls to find out if anyone was
inside the flat, there was no response.
In light of this issue, an HDB said that its internal procedures
will be tightened to ensure such incidents do not take place
again.
Liao was “released” from his flat on Tuesday afternoon after a
neighbor informed HDB officers of the
incident.
Throughout the day he was locked in, TNP reported that Liao
allegedly had no water for consumption and asked neighbours for
water and food.
But even prior to the incident, Liao, who is unemployed would
sometimes ask for money and food. A neighbor said she has seen him
leaving his flat with a plastic bag, searching for leftover food at
coffeeshops, the paper said.
