68: Now they've removed the railings of the Walkway

67: The New Paper report - War over Walkway - Sat 7 Dec 2013

I read the report by reporters Ng Hun Sen and Rennie Whang after buying a copy from a Shell Station.

It included Timeline of Events, comments by Mrs Josephine Teo, ShunfuVille management declining to comment, What does the Law say, and views from some residents. It quoted Thomson Garden resident Albert Ong of having said: "By destroying the walkway, they are challenging us to see what we can possibly do next."

Here's an excerpt from The New Paper Online:

The New Paper contacted a number of lawyers to respond to the question: What does the Law say? Do Thomson Garden residents have a right to use the walkway?

Their answer was: Yes, they do. These right of way, known as easements, enable property owners to walk across another's property in order to get to their own.

There you have it, from the mouths of lawyers!

For a full report, read The New Paper!

66: The story of the Jalan Isnin-Shunfu Rd Walkway for the New Paper

About 5pm today (Thu 5 Dec 2013), a reporter from The New Paper knocked at my gate and wanted to speak to me about the situation concerning the disputed walkway.

I traced for him the historical facts concerning this walkway:

1: It has been in existence for decades, from a dirt footpath until it was renovated into a tiled walkway by the then MP Leong Horn Kee. Thanks to him we, the residents of Thomson Garden Estate, have used this facility as a shortcut to Shunfu Mart, the neighbourhood kindergarten, Thomson CC and the MRT.

2: Now the walkway is in disputed territory owned by ShunFuVille as part of the privatisation process. As a result, they have locked up the walkway, and now unilaterally demolished the steps of the walkway, a most odius thing to do in terms of the ethics of neighbourliness. This slap in the face was done while we are patiently waiting for the Authorities and the President to mitigate the harshness of this unfortunate event, and hopefully reinstate the use of the walkway.

3: My opinion that all this could have been avoided had the person/s in HDB-HUDC drawn the border line on the other side of the walkway, along the side of the retaining wall, and declared the metre-wide land on which the walkway sits as State Land.

But is it too late to undo the mistake at 3 above?

Photo above shows me and Ng Hun Sen, the New Paper reporter, making a site visit overlooking the demolished steps of the Jalan Isnin-Shunfu Rd Walkway

65: The Footpath steps: hacked, smashed & swept away by ShunFuVille!

This afternoon (Thu 5 Dec 2013) a New Paper reporter rang about the demolition of the disputed Jalan Isnin-Shunfu Rd footpath. After talking to her, I went down to have another look at the demolition site. But the broken bricks that were hacked off the steps of the footpath have been cleared. All gone!

But I think they have just opened a can of worms!

64: Updating our "absent" MP on the current happenings in Dec 2013

Hi, Hon MP Hri Kumar. You might like to know what's happening with regard to Thomson Garden Estate as you have been absent around here for some time.

Go see your Facebook as most probably your FB Administrator is shielding you from the breaking news. :-( (*To your disadvantage*)

63: ShunfuVille contractor started to demolish the disputed Jalan Isnin-Shunfu Rd footpath today unilaterally.

Only 2 days ago, Thomson Garden residents listened to a speech by their Grass Roots Adviser, Sr Min of State for LTA Mrs Josephine Teo with reference to the Footpath in which she restated her promise to help.

I'm wondering whether the Hon Minister & the Chairman of the Thomson Garden Neighbourhood Cttee were aware that this was going to happen today, and if so, why wasn't there any effort to inform us?

This action by ShunfuVille shows that they are above talking to our Residents' Representatives, and disregard our patient waiting for the President of Singapore to give us a reply to our petition to have the footpath reinstated.

Historically, the footpath existed decades ago when ShunfuVille was not even a figment of imagination in the minds of the HDB-HUDC, let alone the current owners of the HUDC flats!

Is there anyone who can help?

62: Thomson Garden residents' Festive Lunch - Sun 1 Dec 13

View slideshow of the event >>>

Listen to speech by Mrs Josephine Teo, their Grass Roots Adviser >>>