A home to some, a hazard to all

Straits Times, 14 August 2006

MANY elderly people are unwilling to clear up their cluttered homes. Their homes become fire hazards and breeding grounds for bugs. There will be volunteers who will help to clean up. However, the biggest problem is that these senior citizens are unwilling to part with their old possessions as have great sentimental value and significance. Many of these seniors have no relatives nor descendants such that they are only left with their old belongings. It is indeed hard to persuade them to clear them away as we symphathise with some who suffer from obsessive complusive disorder. The dilema is such that the residents' safety have to be ensured yet, nothing can be thrown out of their flat without their consent.