| FIRST it was direct mailers that flooded letter-boxes and irritated residents of HDB flats.  | | -- KELVIN CHNG, MAUREEN KOH | Now another form of advertising is driving the residents up the wall, literally. Little strips of stickers plastered all over the main doors, gates and even the doorbells. Trying to remove them can be a tiresome affair, said all those affected. These stickers come from locksmiths, electricians and plumbers. Ang Mo Kio resident Ms Ng A B, 48, said in Cantonese: 'A few days after you remove one sticker, another comes along and pastes a new one!' Equally upset was Bedok resident Madam Wan G N, 64. 'I am fed up of cleaning up the mess. It's not as simple as peeling off the stickers - some of them are so difficult to get rid of and they leave behind unsightly marks,' she said, echoing most of the residents' views. The New Paper checked out a total of 40 HDB blocks over three weeks. At Bedok, Pasir Ris, Marine Parade and Bishan, we returned to the same blocks a week later and found that new stickers had been slapped on spots that had previously been cleaned. At others, stickers were pasted over or beside existing ones. On some gates, we found up to a cluster of five such stickers. 'Aiyah, give up lah! I just can't be bothered now,' said Mr Noor Atan, 38, from Jurong East.  | | -- KELVIN CHNG, MAUREEN KOH | SHOUTING MATCHES 'Sometimes when my wife cannot tahan (tolerate in Malay), she will call the numbers on the stickers and get into a shouting match. 'But at the end of the day, it is only us who cekik darah (causing angst to oneself).' And calling these 'advertisers' may cause more headaches for some residents. Said Mrs Alice Chew, 32, a Marine Parade resident: 'I noticed a particular locksmith was pasting the stickers. 'I called his number and at first, he was quite nice because he thought I had wanted his service. 'When I told him politely to stop doing it, he started swearing vulgarities at me before slamming the phone down.' While Mrs Chew said she could not be certain that it was the locksmith at work, she claimed that she started receiving crank calls on her house phone soon after. 'The caller would hang up each time we picked up. After about a month, we had to change our number,' she said. Town councils told The New Paper that this is a prevalent problem faced. A Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council spokesman said: 'We would remove the stickers from common areas such as lift lobbies and letterboxes when we receive complaints from residents. 'As and when the cleaners spot these stickers, they would clear them too. But if we find the problem persists with a particular locksmith, our property managers would contact them to issue a verbal warning.' All the seven locksmiths and two plumbers contacted did not feel that they had done anything wrong. A locksmith argued that 'since everyone is doing the same thing, why can't I?' He added: 'I am not breaking any law.' Not true. Lawyers contacted said those responsible could be sued for trespassing, when these stickers are pasted on the gates and doors of the residents' homes. 'It is essentially a form of trespass to the property. Any form that interferes with the property belonging to a person is arguably a form of trespassing, for which you can sue,' said one. The issue is, how to prove the damage sustained. In such incidents, homeowners have a case if they can prove they had incurred costs, such as carrying out paintwork to rectify the damages. But more often than not, the 'victims' found themselves 'just living with the problem', said Mr Patrick Chong, 52, who said the costs incurred would be prohibitive. Toa Payoh resident Mrs Michelle Parwani, 50, said she was not aware that she could take action against these trespassers. 'I guess it all depends on those affected - if you choose to do nothing, then nothing will be done. And in the end, what is the point of complaining?' | 
