A CONTRACTOR showed up at her mother’s flat earlier this year, and informed the illiterate 68-year-old that her squat toilet was illegal.
Madam Serene Goh’s mum was told she had to change it to a pedestal toilet or risk being fined.
The man also said the Housing Board was checking on households in her estate, which was undergoing upgrading.
Madam Goh, a housewife in her 40s, said her mother was also asked to change a host of other fixtures in the flat that did not meet ‘regulations’.
In the end, the senior citizen, who lives with her son, parted with over $900 to install a toilet bowl, which was very shoddily done, said Madam Goh. ‘The contractor gave lots of false information to intimidate people. My mum changed her squat toilet because she thought she had better follow the law.’
The HDB is alerting the public not to fall prey to rogue contractors who use the board’s name to con residents into making unnecessary renovations. Continue reading
