Neighbour crisis. Help!

I am going to make sure to ask PluckADuck next time I have issues. What a good idea!

Above their door, not yours? That is strange, but it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with your dispute. Just to confirm my impression, I asked three local colleagues, who agree. Had these people posted it by your door and it said 吵人居 (above of noisy people), that would be relevant to you. :wink:

Dragonbones it’s above their door. It has no connection with the dispute. I just think it shows that they’re weird… but of course it doesn’t make them any more blameworthy.

Although 懶人居 translates directly as, “lazy people’s house,” it actually means a place where one can just be lazy and relax or “kick back” without any worries…

One thing to note is that in the notice, keep the tone apologetic and sincere…don’t make the notice sound as if you are trying to aggravate him/her…make it sound like all you want is a nice peaceful resolution…post two versions, one in Mandarin and one in English…

This may sound kinda weird, but you should try to get your wife to make friends with the neighbors in your building…especially with the one who lives next to you, above you, and below you (well, I guess it is too late for that now)…I’m saying it should be your wife because in Taiwanese society, “house matters” are usually dealt with by the woman of the house…only when it escalates to being “serious,” like in your case, does the man steps in and gets involved…your wife should get into the habit of “chit chatting” with the neighborhood wives…you will notice that you can only know what is goin’ on in the building from them…in your case, I am almost positive that your neighbor below you has been complaining about you for a LONG time with your other neighbors…it is because you are “out of the loop,” that this matter has escalated to what it is now…your wife would have gathered from the gossip from OTHER housewives that your neighbor below is unhappy about the noise upstairs, and you guys would just address/change it silently…then your wife would then make some off comment to one of your neighbors saying how you guys spent an entire evening putting little caps on the chair bottoms so they don’t drag and make noise and how you guys lectured your kids to stop running around as to not bother the people below…then your neighbor will pass this gossip over to the neighbor below you who is all pissed off…and then he/she will voice his/her satisfaction at the changes…which will then get passed through gossip back to you…so in public…everybody “saves face” and everybody is all happy happy…sounds weird, but this is how things work around here…

I feel a bit of sympathy for both parties involved in this dispute, but from Smithsgj’s account, I think he’s being more reasonable than the neighbors.

During my last six months in Taiwan, I lived in a studeo apartment in a fairly nice looking building. As it turned out, the floors in that building conducted sound very well. I went fucking nuts in those last six months. That situation was worse than this one since the folks upstairs were a.) up all night (and I mean all night); and b.) gangsters. They didn’t watch TV or play loud music. They just did as Smithsgj and his family do: nudge a bit of furniture and walk around the apartment. It was so loud that I couldn’t sleep at night even with copious amounts of spirits before bedtime. Anybody who has experienced long periods of insomnia will know that it only gets worse as it goes on. What your neighbors are doing is completely wrong, but I must confess that I had the urge to do similar things to my upstairs neighbors.

There’s not a lot you can do. It seems that your floors conduct sound well and that you and the neighbors have very different schedules. If they hadn’t resorted to the glass in the mailbox and shoe theft, you could have at least invited them into your apartment to show them that you’re doing everything you can to reduce the noise. Now that they’re being complete dicks, though, I sure wouln’t invite them into my place. Whatever you do, though, don’t try to make more noise. People who are suffering from insomnia can do crazy things.

One of my coworkers had a suggetion that, early into my time in Taiwan, helped me avoid later problems with the neighbors. At my first Chinese New Year in Taiwan, I distributed a few little cakes around to all the neighbors – gave me a chance to score some points with the old harridan who’d screamed bloody murder at us at my house-warming party and an excuse to knock on doors I wouldn’t have gone to normally. The reception was actually quite nice, and my neighbors were very friendly throughout my time living there – just an idea that you could use in the next couple of weeks.

We just kind of left it. They stopped complaining but a couple of weeks back filled our letter box with damp paper. This morning I found broken china in the letter box.

Five minutes ago I opened our apartment door to got to the shop. I almost had a heart attack: the door is covered in blood.

[quote=“smithsgj”]We just lind of left it. They stopped complaining but a couple of weeks back filled our letter box with damp paper. This morning I found broken China in the letter box.

Five minutes ago I opened our apartment door to got to the shop. I almost had a heart attack: the door is covered in blood.[/quote]

Those are some sick people you are dealing with. Really sick. You should be looking at safe opitions considering you have children. Best of luck

namaste :rainbow:

You REALLY should call the police now…

I got security up and they took pictures. It wasn’t blood, it was red ink… the kind used for chops. It washed off fairly easily.

We had the police round before, when we found the glass, SaF. They won’t lift a finger cos there’s no proof. The police here don’t investigate crime unless there’s proof positive that some party is responsible. :s

They must have done it while I was here working. The gall! At least I’m here alone, and needed to go out late. Otherwise one of the kids might have opened the door tomorrow morning :astonished:

Thank you all for your support and advice. I’ll keep you posted.

I have read the thread and all the replies and besides the fact that the o.p. is in a difficult situation I am a little confused.

I am wondering who actually has any neighbors who actually give a fuc about anybody else?

I have people doing construction at 11:30 pm, drinking and smashing bottles in the stairwells, pissing vomiting and spitting beetle nut juice and every flat surface in the common areas, driving scooters into the stairwell and parking them at he bottom of the stairs blocking access, screaming fighting and hammering until 4 am, and my personal fav burning paper money inside the buildings stairwells so the smoke and ash does not get in their apt.

It is not everybody it is just some, but really in all the places I have lived this kind of action was pretty common, nobody ever really seems to give a shit about anybody else.

So I am wondering where all this considerate neighbor stuff is happening? If I knocked on a neighbors door to ask them to stop with the table saw at 10:30 they would tell me to F,… my mother’s c… and slam the door!

Where are all these considerate people I want some!

Er… what’s a formosian?

(Oh and what is it you’re suggesting I should do? Tell them to fuck their mothers’ cunts? Hmm, perhaps I’ll try that next in my response strategy.)

[quote=“smithsgj”]Er… what’s a formosian?

(Oh and what is it you’re suggesting I should do? Tell them to fuck their mothers’ cunts? Hmm, perhaps I’ll try that next in my response strategy.)[/quote]

No dude I am just wondering where you live ? With the glimmer of hope that neighbors might consider each other? It sounds great!
My point was that every place I have lived has been the opposite.

Nobody has any consideration: making noise by moving a chair or your kids having fun?

You hould try my place with the screaming kids being beaten till dawn or the drunken brawls between father and son. I think your shit for brains downstairs neighbor would fit right in or at least have lots of people to hate and fight with.

I take your point. Still I’d rather be disturbed by noisy neighbours myself than have fake blood sprayed over the door.

agreed
:astonished:

smithsgj:

I really feel for you. I’ve had horrible experiences with neighbors here in the United States. It sounds to me like you’re making reasonable attempts to keep the noise down, something most of my neighbors haven’t done. I always end up involving the police, and I make a point to bring them out in every single instance. Eventually I’ve always “trained” my neighbors to be more considerate. Of course that’s because American police are, in my experience, highly efficient.

You say the Tawianese police won’t act without proof. I agree with the other posters on here that you should get a security camera installed. Then you’ll have concrete proof to bring to the police. Man this has just gone too far. Whether it’s real blood or fake blood the symbolism is the same. When you get the security camera installed, it’s possible the security company may have a more comprehensive package to offer you, including an alarm system and 24 hour customer service. Press a button and they call the police for you, perhaps even send out their own security forces as well. I don’t know if that is available in Taiwan or not, but it’s worth looking in to. Either way, the security camera could act as a deterrent and/or method of gathering concrete proof of your neighbor’s criminal behavior. Keep us posted, and good luck.

I don’t know why smithsgj hasn’t gotten a camera yet. It seems clear to me that this would be the easiest way to get some proof.

However, should he get a plainly visible camera to act as a deterent and risk the camera getting damaged by his neighbor? Or would it be better to get a (relatively) hidden camera and wait until he has sufficient proof before informing the police? I’d probably go for the latter of the two.

[quote=“scomargo”]I don’t know why smithsgj hasn’t gotten a camera yet. It seems clear to me that this would be the easiest way to get some proof.

However, should he get a plainly visible camera to act as a deterent and risk the camera getting damaged by his neighbor? Or would it be better to get a (relatively) hidden camera and wait until he has sufficient proof before informing the police? I’d probably go for the latter of the two.[/quote]

I was just thinking that. I think a hidden one would be better. Is it possible to get one that mounts behind the little peep hole you have on most doors here?

:astonished: wow…I thought my neighbors were bad… In fairness I’d object to being woken up every day at 6am by the neighbors no matter how legitimate their reasons were BUT they’ve clearly shown that they are below a civilized and reasonable resolution to this…

if I were you:

Step 1: Look for a new apartment close by and move, discreetly.
Step 2: Once you and your family are safely moved, spend a few grand on sending over some hired ‘aquaintances’ to teach the cowardly little bastards a lesson they’ll not soon forget, not physical harm, just arrange for them to smash all the expensive appliances / furniture in the place and perhaps get your shoes back…

If this isn’t feasible, then for sure, install pinhole security cam in your door, it won’t break the bank and it’d be an excellent deterrant / evidence gatherer… If they know where you live the only option is the police…

You need to go to the Central Police Station in Taipei City, the Foreign Police, and report this.

You need a security camera, not a fake one, a real one.

You need to make plans to move out asap.

Anyone one of the above 3 actions would be a step in the right direction…because you have a family.

However, if it were just me, I would secretly move out and leave no forwarding address…preferrably to another county. Then I would make ‘terror’ runs every so often back to their place and pull every single trick on them that they have done to you, right down to the red ink.