The nosy neighbour Auntie who harassed me for 5 years about being single/unmarried has suddenly gone dead silent. Karma is real.
I (31F) live with my parents in an HDB block. For the past 5 years, my next-door neighbour, “Auntie Helen” (60s), has been the absolute bane of my existence.
Every time I stepped out of the house to go to work, buy groceries, or take grabfood, Auntie Helen would magically open her door and start her interrogation:
- “Ah Girl ah, 28 already still no boyfriend? Later become leftover woman old maid how?”
- “Look at my daughter, 26 only married doctor already! Got condo, got car! You must lower your standards lah!”
- “You study so high degree for what? Woman no husband, salary $10k also useless one!”
She didn’t just harass me; she harassed my mother too! During Chinese New Year, she would bring her doctor son-in-law over to our house, intentionally talking super loud about how her daughter is living in Bukit Timah condo and how rich they are, while looking at me with pity. My mom used to feel so inferior and would cry in her room after CNY.
I kept my head down, focused on my career, bought my own 3-room BTO under Single Scheme last year, and lived my life.
Then, two months ago, major drama went down at Auntie Helen’s house.
Turns out, her “perfect doctor son-in-law” was having a full-blown affair with a nurse at his hospital. Not only that, he was heavily in debt from underground soccer betting. He filed for divorce, kicked Auntie Helen’s daughter out of his condo, and because they hadn’t reached 3 years of marriage, the asset division was a total mess.
One evening, three large moving vans pulled up at our void deck. Auntie Helen’s daughter moved all her luggage, branded bags, and boxes back into Auntie Helen’s tiny 3-room flat, crying hysterically at the corridor.
The next day, I walked out of my house wearing my work attire. Auntie Helen was sweeping the corridor.
Normally, she would lock eyes with me and say “Still single ah?”
This time, the moment she saw me, she IMMEDIATELY turned around, dragged her broom inside, and SLAMMED her gate and door so hard the whole corridor echoed.
Now, whenever I see her at the lift lobby, she stares at the floor like the ground has the most interesting pattern in the world. My mom intentionally went over last week to pass her some festive kueh and casually asked: “Aiya Helen, heard your daughter move back? So good ah, can stay with you forever! Single or divorced, family home is the best right?”
Auntie Helen’s face turned completely purple.
Moral of the story: Don’t use your children’s marriages as trophies to step on other people. Life has a very funny way of handing out reality checks.