Model and actress Sonia Sui (隋棠) has recently been embroiled in a war of words with her neighbor over her children’s noise levels.
According to her neighbor, the situation is no longer tolerable and they are filing a lawsuit against her. The controversy has triggered heated debate and shows no sign of slowing down.
Sui’s case is far from unusual. It is just the tip of the iceberg. Many residents living in multifamily residential buildings also have loud neighbors, but they are either used to the problem or forced to put up with it.
High-rise multifamily residential buildings are a result of urban development and the maximization of land use. This has been a prevalent and irreversible trend around the globe.
However, the crux of the problem is that architecture is out of step with people’s desired living standards.
In 2021, the Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency set minimum standards for sound insulation between flooring in the Building Technical Regulations (建築技術規則), but it will take another few years before soundproof houses hit the market.
Before that, in high-rise condominium buildings such as the one in which Sui and her family live, residents still have to put up with the noise made by neighbors living above them, such as when children run around or when furniture is moved.
This is a problem that cannot be solved with the Building Administration Division’s Condominium Administration Act (公寓大廈管理條例) or other legal actions, as the noise made by neighbors living above, albeit inconvenient for the ones below, are still within normal parameters.
It is impossible to stop one’s children from running around or refrain from making any noise when moving furniture or other objects. The fundamental problem is not the people, it is that modern society has not yet developed a way of living that can keep daily noises out.
Residents living in apartments should make sense of the situation more appropriately. Even though they might have inconsiderate neighbors living above them, people living below should not blame them entirely, as the architectural style requires every household to exist closely side by side.
Many apartments were built a long time ago, and the lack of soundproofing in older buildings causes issues today.
When people call their neighbors selfish and self-serving, and when people want to assassinate their character or take legal action against them, they should remember that these equally inconsiderate actions lead nowhere. Instead, it only causes damage to both parties.
Hopefully Sui and her neighbor can bury the hatchet soon, and similar disputes taking place in other apartment buildings are settled peacefully on the principles of empathy and respect.
If people are intent on hurting others just to serve their own interests and win a dispute, it would be a modern tragedy.
Zou Ho-le is a condominium administration consultant.
Translated by Rita Wang
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