How to Stop Selfish People Burning Incense/Joss Paper in Bins (Singapore)

Sat 22 Sept 

Woke close to noon today and smelled smoke. The sort of smoke that comes from burning incense from the bins downstairs.

My windows were closed and I even shut the ventilation opening below my windows and still the smoke entered my bedroom.  I felt a lack of oxygen and came out to the living room. Although the balcony doors were shut, smoke was also in the living room and wafted into the kitchen.

(Later, I also found that my bath towels and dry laundry that hung up, stank of the smell).

That did it. Always, I have been tolerant, but this is too much.  So bad that the oxygen was being snuffed out, making me angry.

Brushed my teeth, washed my face, got out of the house to look downstairs.

Look at these inconsiderate and selfish people.  Two bins were smoking up.

The smoke wafted up to the corridor and the entire area, choking up the place.  One Indian woman at the opposite block came out of her flat and looked out holding her hand to her nose and mouth.

I called down to them: "Excuse me! You do this, my house is full of smoke!".

They looked up.

The woman in red T was wearing black-rimmed spectacles, looking either studying in Junior College or Polytechnic. Around 18~19 years old. She apologized "Sorry".

The man in dark shirt and the other woman in white just stared up at me, looking mean, hostile and very selfish.  The woman had small eyes. They did not say a word but went back to burning.

I have not seen them before, guess they live on the higher floors, so they are not affected by the smoke or ash. By their look, must be Chinese-ed.

Chinese-ed means Chinese-educated.  Versus English-educated people who are more intelligent, rational and gracious.  Chinese-ed an old term to refer to older generation folks who don't know English, are superstitious and basically not educated in many ways.

I called out again, "Can you please douse it with some water, otherwise the smoke will continue?".  I already knew they probably don't understand the word "douse" but I said it anyway.

After burning up the papers in their hands, the trio put their hands together to "pray" before Red T walked away, looking up and saying once more "Sorry". The man and woman remained, looking at  their smoking bin and ignoring me completely.

The ghost festival month is already over, what are they still burning for? During that month, I never once said anything. But this is over the limit.

Which "god" whom they are burning to, would help such mean, selfish and inconsiderate people?

Does the word "sorry" clear up the choking smoke in my house? Does "sorry" stop them from burning the rest of the paper in their hands?  No. 

So, what am I supposed to do with your "sorry", woman? Why don't you shove it up your ass? Of what use is education to you? Might as well not study and stay home. Where is the intelligence from that education? 

For many years, I have put up with these people burning incense paper. Not just them, but many others. Sometimes, they do it past midnight and it would wake me up to find my bedroom filled with choking smoke. If my windows were not already closed, ash would have come in.

Sometimes when the balcony doors are not closed, ash would fly in. And that ash is very difficult to clean up because they break apart when touched, and they smear on the floor when wet. 

I will need to make a complaint to the town council about this. A few years back, I had complained before and they had moved the bins elsewhere as I told them to. But these days, the town council has "forgotten" this and the bins are back, close to residents' homes.

Because it's a weekend, I was unable to call the town council to move the bins. Neither can I call the police since it is not against the law and it's something that is "allowed" with the bins being provided by the town council.

So, what can we do as the choking smoke continued even after these people have conveniently walked away?

After doing these measures below, the air cleared up and was breathable again. I think we did a service to the community by doing so.  Not just for our benefit, but for those living around as well.

For those with health/breathing problems, I think what we did is even more helpful.

Also, those incense papers are coated in some "gold" squares, which I think could perhaps be tested for toxic substances released into the air, along with the paper material. These items are made in China/Taiwan, perhaps Thailand, but the substances that go into making them are likely hazardous. That's why people report problems when they come into contact with the smoke.

First, we doused out the smoke with pails of tap water. I didn't have any standing water at the time. So, it took about 3 pails to dampen these 2 bins.  Note that despite these pails of water, the ash was only dampened with that sort of burning heat emanating from within.

I am aware that using sand might be more effective, but we have no sand.

After dampening, the bins continued smoldering but at least, smoked less than before. The air started clearing up almost immediately. The water took a while to seep through the bins and it was enough to flow out from the small holes in their sides.

However, this would not prevent further burning of paper later.

We went out for a short while, and when we returned, the 2nd bin on the left was smoking again. Someone must have burnt something again in there.

Since the 1st bin was already full of burnt incense paper, bro thought it wouldn't be used. So, we fixed the 2nd bin that was smoking.

Earlier, we had thought of covering the bins with something "heavy" but what? Or, we could put garbage into them. But I said even with garbage, incense paper can still be burnt inside. And garbage will likely burn worse, especially if plastic materials releasing toxic substances into the air.

There seemed only 2 things we could do: 1) Fill it with stuff so that nobody would be able to burn anymore inside.  OR  2) Topple the bin to the ground and pour water over the ash.

We went for option #2.  Bro kicked it twice and it fell. But be careful the metal rots through, so gently, otherwise the foot will go in.  After that,  I did the coup de grace by pouring water over the toppled mouth and into the hole at the side that rotted through, wetting the ash inside.

Bro said the bin was toppled facing the plants, so that nobody would be able to access the bin. If it were toppled to the side like I suggested,  the bin can still be used from the ground. Brilliant bro.

As of now, 5.03 p.m., the 2nd bin  (on the left) we toppled has been removed. The 1st bin is still smoking even after so many hours.  Our balcony doors still cannot be opened and the air outside the balcony is still bad.

I wait for night/past midnight when some asshole might start up the 1st bin again. Or... the person/sweeper who removed the 2nd bin might put in a new bin in its place. If that happens, we'll do the new bin.

In a temple some years back, I was surprised to see a temple caretaker pull out the joss sticks from the urn the moment the devotee stuck them in.  One after another, as the devotees put them in, the temple man would take them out to douse them in a pail (sand/water, can't recall). So, dousing these bins of ash with water is actually no disrespect but is a practicality that can and should be done.

It seems from the 1st photo, there is a 4th person who was there (at the below edge).  Photos saved under "Assholes".

Which JC or Polytechnic is Red T studying in? 

Don't tell me she's still in secondary school. And please don't tell me she's studying in university.

Our universities don't have such stupid people (actually they do, sad as it may be).

I didn't manage to take their faces when they looked up. 

However, I got the face of Red T in the video below.

Look at that. Having fun polluting other people's air! Wow! What a nice family activity on a nice Saturday afternoon. Let's do it together!   After that, they conveniently strolled home, leaving other peoples' homes in smoke.

Man (arms akimbo in deep caveman voice): I'm the man of the house.  Look at it burn, man.

Youtube is clearer than Dailymotion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpO2_0_Vxp8&feature=youtu.be