03

Many of you would have taken the opportunity to go on a holiday, but for some of us, it’s a good chance to have a peaceful break within the confines of your own home… until someone decides to do something out of the ordinary… to the point of disrupting the otherwise serene neighbourhood that’s been my home since…

Z, you tolong intai sikit, tengok jiran mana tu ? Dia punya lagu… alamak, manyak kuatlah ! Saya tak jadi tidur.

Mind you, it didn’t help that I lost my earplugs the day before (Friday), when that same house had some gathering on, and there was a lot of hoo-ha. I’m also on meds that are supposed to make me drowsy (hence, the need to tidur that Saturday afternoon) … and gosh, I wish I had quite normal mobility – the ability to walk around the house – that would warrant me able to switch rooms, to help me sleep better upstairs (I was able to at least move around the house without assistance, up till 2021). But dang, I don’t have that now, no thanks in part to the prolonged MCO. Precisely why I was asking my domestic helper for slight assistance.

I’m pretty sure, even though I ain’t a practising lawyer/didn’t study law, there’s a clause on noisy neighbours and the activities they are allowed to do and up to what point. According to what is pointed out in other countries like Australia, there should be no loud music past 11pm, or any other activity that could disrupt the others in the community.

Remember that case in 2017 where a woman in the UK was jailed for playing Ed Sheeran’s song too loudly till past midnight?

By the way, in case you’re wondering, the occupants in this house are not interested in firecrackers, no matter how they are used to memeriahkan suasana of any party, occasion or festival.

And well, I was in for another shock later that Saturday night at 10 mins just before 12am, when those pop-song addicts went into karaoke mode. It was so loud, you could barely make out the lyrics, but I heard: … dikau di hati, even if those guests (and presumably the host) were largely off-key.

This 2024 incident made me reminisce of a similar incident that took place when I was much younger, under the care of my Melaka Hokkien grandmother. Obviously, back then, she had to speak up, because I was a four-year old, trying to sleep – and it was waaaaaaaaaay past midnight. Fortunately, they became much friendlier after that.

Okay, back to the present-day, I decided to switch on the YouTube playlist I had on my phone. They must have gotten the message because at 12am, the karaoke-ing stopped. There was still ongoing loud chatter though.

We still haven’t found a way to tell them yet… because… I don’t know if my current neighbours are as cool as the ones next door to my grandma’s in that previous incident many years ago.

Let’s see what these people have in store for us the next festive occasion.

*Note: Manyak refers to the Baba Malay version of many, which is banyak in standard Malay. Baba Malay is typically spoken by those from the Baba Nyonya communities like in Penang, Melaka, Singapore and other parts where the Baba Nyonya communities can be found.