Tired of reality TV? Try the Everitt road show
THE most talked-about show in town is not playing at the Esplanade, but at an outdoor theatre in the east with a cast of amateurs and an unpredictable plot.
The Joo Chiat drama - a long-running neighbourhood war in which seven families are united against one - has become Singapore's answer to reality TV.
But the fans watch it live.
Up to 100 people a day, from as far as Malaysia, turn up at Everitt Road hoping to catch some action...
Ms Chan said laughingly to her father: 'Dad, all these people have actually been waiting for us to come home. This is so sad, they have no life!'
A young man with spiffy gelled hair called out: 'Hey, old man, we came to watch you dance. Dance leh!'
A smiling Mr Chan obliged by waltzing in his driveway with an imaginary partner for about 30 seconds or so, to the onlookers' amusement...
Video footage from the Gan's security camera catches Mr Chan dancing in his front yard.
Mr Chan said jokingly the following day: 'People have to join Star Search to become famous, but we have become instant celebrities.'...
The dispute involves a tangled web of old hurts and recent slights spanning 10 years and incorporating issues such as parking space, littering, verbal abuse, harassment and stalking...
Public interest in the case has heated up, fanned by two Mandarin documentaries aired about two weekends ago, which showed video footage taken by the Chans' neighbours.
The most talked-about clips: Ms Chan and her mother showing off their diamond jewellery and asking their neighbours: 'You have or not?'; Ms Chan saying that she dislikes poor people; Mr Chan, clad in just a pair of shorts, dancing around and shaking his bum at the camera, with his daughter singing 'Call the police'.
The footage has caused much eyebrow-raising over how a well-educated person like Ms Chan, who holds a doctorate in life sciences and teaches at a secondary school in Bedok, could behave in such an arrogant and childish manner.
Avid gamblers also became devoted fans when the Chans' car licence-plate number, 3174, came out tops in the 4-D draw on Oct 13...
Madam Cheong said: 'Last November, Ms Chan followed my eldest son to the bus stop while he was going to school for an exam and scolded him in public. My son felt so embarrassed.'
Ms Chan denied it indirectly, saying: 'They must think I am very good at multitasking. Where do I have so much time to do all that they accuse me of?'
The Chans said that after some conflict with the older Chua brother's family and the Lohs over parking space, their two cars were vandalised repeatedly - 132 scratches over two years, in fact.
They also said that the Tays had dropped cigarette butts into their backyard, burning a hole in their awning.
All three families have denied responsibility for the incidents.
The Gans' unhappiness stems from the spotlight outside the Chans' house that shines directly into one of their bedrooms. The Chans say the spotlight is for security purposes.
The families are also rankled by the name- calling dished out by the Chans, such as 'cheapskate', 'low-class' and 'bastard'.
The Chans say these were merely said tit-for-tat - in response to their neighbours' Hokkien expletives.
Both sides claim that they have video and photographic evidence of the other's wrongdoings.
[NB: This whole thing reminds me of Lin Yucheng - from the quotes to the story to the writing. LOL]