There are laws on noise pollution in residential areas e.g. no late parties after 11pm, why none on smell pollution?

I suspect my flat unit is haunted by a smoking ghost. Every day at the same timings, my home is suddenly engulfed with the smell of cigarette smoke. It permeates the whole unit, so strong that it's as though someone in the house is smoking. It's especially strong in the toilets and master bedroom.

Some nights I also get awaken by the smell as it makes me choke and cough. it doesn't help that I've been 'trained' since young to be sensitive to the smell so I could catch my dad trying to smoke in the toilet ;)


My husband and I have narrowed it down using observation and scientific reasonings.

We have an auntie neighbour staying at the end unit who selfishly stands in front of our unit and lift landing to smoke. When we open the door to try and scold her, she quickly stubs out, acts blur and escapes back to her unit or into the lift. Anyway she should not be the cause of all the smoke as most times it enters from the other windows away from the front door.

So we suspect it's the unit below us. In the middle of the night my husband hears the furious clicking of a lighter, then our bedroom is filled with cigarette smoke. There is no unit beside ours, and hot air travels upwards, so it must have come from downstairs.

My usual habit is to scream out of the window "SMELLYYYYYYY!!!" and then close it with a bang so loud the offender can hear. But my husband says that will provoke him to smoke even more if he was the offender. So I stopped doing that. So helpless now.


The washing areas in our estate are built so they form a horse-shoe shape. This is actually quite dumb cause all the cooking fumes accumulate in this catchment area and fume up everyone's clothes hanging out to dry.

This same downstairs neigbour likes to cook at around 10pm. Sometimes curry, sometimes briyani, sometimes deep-frying stuff that sends the stench of re-used oil straight into our kitchen. Either my husband or I will first raise the alarm, then rush to take in the clothes or slam shut the kitchen windows.

Sometimes the smell of cooking also comes in through the master bedroom window. Don't ask me why. Perhaps the rooms are rented out to tenants who cook in the rooms. Illegal?

I really feel like telling them to be more considerate. But talking to neighbours isn't something we still do nowadays in our non-kampungs is it?

 

Labels: Cynic In The House