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FOUR families living next to each other in Whampoa West have been terrorised by mischief-makers in the past two months.

One after the other, they have been victims of a string of misdeeds, including paint splashed on the front door, a big flowerpot thrown over the corridor railing, and hell money strewn outside their gates.

The most serious incident happened late last Sunday at midnight, when the culprit set one of the flats at Block 34 on fire.

Mr Kee Hang Soi showing paint splashed over hid front door on tuesday.-- pictures: Kelvin Chng, SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS

The flat's occupants - an elderly couple in their 80s and two of their daughters - were asleep at the time.

They awoke to see their living room curtains, TV and cabinet on fire.

The fire was so big the family could not get to the front door to escape.

But they kept calm and used a water pail and a wet towel to get the fire under control. They put out the fire themselves in about 10 minutes. No-one was hurt.

MATCHES FOUND

One of the daughters, who gave her name as Ms Huang and is in her 40s, told Shin Min Daily News that they found burnt matches outside their flat after the fire.

They suspect that the culprit had thrown a burning match into their flat through the open window.

Another daughter, who declined to give her name, said that her parents, who are 88 and 82, were still in shock over what happened.

'My parents have stayed here for more than 30 years, since the block was built, and such a thing has never happened,' she said. 'We still don't know why (it did).'

The Huang's next door neighbour, Mr Kee Hang Soi, 67, is similarly aggrieved. Beige paint was splashed over his front door on Tuesday morning.

The market stall owner, who lives in the flat with his wife and two adult children, said it was his daughter who first saw the mess at the front door of the empty flat when she came back home at about 11am.

TWO IN ONE DAY
Mr Kee said that when he and his family members left for work at 7.30am that day, nothing seemed amiss.

That same morning, his other next-door neighbour, Madam Ong Boo San, 80, was also targetted.

She, too, had left the flat at about 7.30am with her daughter to see a doctor for her diabetes.

When they got home at about 10.30am, the daughter was shocked to see a stack of hell money strewn outside their flat and the paint on Mr Kee's door.

Recounted Madam Ong in Hokkien: 'I wasn't scared by the hell money, but I was scared that they might have wanted to set fire to it after what happened to my neighbours.'

She and Mr Kee called the police together.

Police confirmed they have received reports about the paint, hell money and fire. They are investigating the cases as mischief, and mischief by fire.

The rash of incidents in the past week has spurred the Huang family's other next-door neighbour, who gave his name only as Mr Ee, 42, to take action.

He became the first victim when, in April, someone took one of the flower pots from outside his third-storey flat and threw it over the corridor railing.

He said that the clay pot was about 30cm across and, together with the soil and more than 1m-tall plant in it, had weighed about 7kg.

It hit and made a dent on the metal shelter below before landing on the ground. Mr Ee said he and his wife made a police report that day.

THE HUNT IS ON
Spooked by the latest incidents, the sales manager hooked up a web-cam at the living room window of his corridor unit, to watch for suspicious characters.

Mr Ee with an earthenware flower pot similar to one of his that was thrown away from outside his flat in April.

But, as his web-cam can record up to only three hours, he is now considering installing a CCTV.

He has also started keeping his family's good shoes inside the flat instead of leaving them outside, so that the culprit will have less 'fire material'.

Mr Ee is especially concerned because he has two young children, aged 8 and 13. His wife, mother-in-law and maid also live in the three-room flat.

Madam Ong is also taking extra precautions.

She said:'Now, I don't dare open the door when I'm home. I keep it locked.'

All four families have no idea why the culprit seems to be targetting them.

Mr Kee's family has lived there for more than 10 years, while the other three families have lived there for over 30 years. This is the first time such incidents have occurred.

Said Mr Ee: 'First my flat, then the next one, the next one, then the last one. I don't know why they're targetting people on the same floor.'

All the families said they did not have any enemies or trouble with loansharks. They added that the area has always been peaceful.

Despite all that has happened, none of the families is considering moving house, mainly because they have sunk roots in the area in the decades they have lived there.

Joked Madam Ong: 'I've been here so long, I'll probably live here till I die.'