Court orders medium to use only 16 sticks of incense a week
inSing.com - 6 August 2012 6:40 PM | Updated 7 August 2012 3:37 PM
One suffers from asthma, while the other is a medium who burns incense for healing prayers.
The two live on the same floor in Tampines and have been choking up neighbourly relations with their unhappiness with each other.
The Teo household has been arguing with their neighbour, Lin Zhongren, over the burning of incense and the noise he has created. They sued him for compensation for psychological damages and the court ordered Lin, a medium, to pay a compensation of $500 and to follow some restrictions on his praying rituals.
He is allowed to burn only 16 incense sticks a week and given up to a maximum of seven hours to pray, Lianhe Wanbao reported.
The dispute started in 2006 when Lin became a medium.
The Teo family said that he would burn a large amount of incense and paper, and the chanting during prayer sessions was noisy. In addition, the family could not stand the crowd that would gather along the common corridor.
The two neighbours have been living on the same floor of a Housing Board block on Tampines Street 41 since 1984. Their three-room flats are located around 20 metres apart. The Teo family lives in the first unit from the staircase, while Lin lives in the fourth unit from the stairs.
Some years back, the Teo family bought the unit next to theirs and created a “super flat”, so the two households are still separated by one unit.
“The unit between us did not complain, but it was the household further away that tried to cause trouble,” Lin said.
However, Madam Teo said that she was not trying to make things difficult, but she is suffering from asthma and the smoke from the incense makes it difficult for her to breathe. That was why she had to take legal action.
On 9 March, the court passed a verdict in favour of the Teo family, awarding them $500 in compensation for psychological damage, while ordering Lin to follow certain restrictions.
Lin is not permitted to entertain any guests for prayer-related activities other than from 7pm to 10:30pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He is allowed to receive guests from 7pm to 10.30pm on the first and 15th day of each lunar calendar month as well.
That means he may entertain people who go to him for prayers for only 10 days each month. If the first and 15th days of the Chinese calendar month fall on a Wednesday or Saturday, then he would only have seven hours each week to conduct his prayer rituals.
Another restriction the court ordered was that other than the eight sticks of incense allowed for each prayer session, he is not permitted to burn incense at home or along the corridor at any other time.
The two households took matters to court after mediation failed. The Teo family is said to have spent close to $20,000 on legal fees, but was awarded only a symbolic $500 instead.
Madam Teo said they went to court “to voice our frustration, we were prepared to have to pay more than we would be compensated”.
Lin said that he feels helpless about the matter. He said he did not want to cause trouble and did not have the money to hire a lawyer. “Since I was asked to pay only $500, I feel that I am not totally in the wrong,” he said.
A lawyer told Lianhe Wanbao that usually, the court would try to resolve disputes among neighbours in a peaceful manner. The $500 token sum is a common verdict, but it is unusual to have written restrictions on the burning of incense.
inSing.com - 6 August 2012 6:40 PM | Updated 7 August 2012 3:37 PM
One suffers from asthma, while the other is a medium who burns incense for healing prayers.
The two live on the same floor in Tampines and have been choking up neighbourly relations with their unhappiness with each other.
The Teo household has been arguing with their neighbour, Lin Zhongren, over the burning of incense and the noise he has created. They sued him for compensation for psychological damages and the court ordered Lin, a medium, to pay a compensation of $500 and to follow some restrictions on his praying rituals.
He is allowed to burn only 16 incense sticks a week and given up to a maximum of seven hours to pray, Lianhe Wanbao reported.
The dispute started in 2006 when Lin became a medium.
The Teo family said that he would burn a large amount of incense and paper, and the chanting during prayer sessions was noisy. In addition, the family could not stand the crowd that would gather along the common corridor.
The two neighbours have been living on the same floor of a Housing Board block on Tampines Street 41 since 1984. Their three-room flats are located around 20 metres apart. The Teo family lives in the first unit from the staircase, while Lin lives in the fourth unit from the stairs.
Some years back, the Teo family bought the unit next to theirs and created a “super flat”, so the two households are still separated by one unit.
“The unit between us did not complain, but it was the household further away that tried to cause trouble,” Lin said.
However, Madam Teo said that she was not trying to make things difficult, but she is suffering from asthma and the smoke from the incense makes it difficult for her to breathe. That was why she had to take legal action.
On 9 March, the court passed a verdict in favour of the Teo family, awarding them $500 in compensation for psychological damage, while ordering Lin to follow certain restrictions.
Lin is not permitted to entertain any guests for prayer-related activities other than from 7pm to 10:30pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He is allowed to receive guests from 7pm to 10.30pm on the first and 15th day of each lunar calendar month as well.
That means he may entertain people who go to him for prayers for only 10 days each month. If the first and 15th days of the Chinese calendar month fall on a Wednesday or Saturday, then he would only have seven hours each week to conduct his prayer rituals.
Another restriction the court ordered was that other than the eight sticks of incense allowed for each prayer session, he is not permitted to burn incense at home or along the corridor at any other time.
The two households took matters to court after mediation failed. The Teo family is said to have spent close to $20,000 on legal fees, but was awarded only a symbolic $500 instead.
Madam Teo said they went to court “to voice our frustration, we were prepared to have to pay more than we would be compensated”.
Lin said that he feels helpless about the matter. He said he did not want to cause trouble and did not have the money to hire a lawyer. “Since I was asked to pay only $500, I feel that I am not totally in the wrong,” he said.
A lawyer told Lianhe Wanbao that usually, the court would try to resolve disputes among neighbours in a peaceful manner. The $500 token sum is a common verdict, but it is unusual to have written restrictions on the burning of incense.
