In the video below, this karang guni man – or rag & bone man – blares his horns incessantly. Do you feel that these men should be allowed to do so? Should horns be banned for karang guni men?
Take a look at the video before you decide. Don’t forget to turn up the volume.
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waknn
Really? That’s your argument? Try harder buddy.
i can’t help but noticed that some are taking this issue personally seeing that most karang guni man are chinese, i wonder if these same people would still defend the karang guni men if they were all indians or malay.
@ theinkorn
“If you’re so unhappy about it, find a place in the city, where there’s no KG man honking at all. There might be traffic though so i guess you should probably move somewhere else. Say, a farm. But then again, there might be roosters waking you up in the morning. So you might want to consider camping in a jungle. But then again there’s that pesky clapping of thunder that no doubt will amplified many many times due to the lack of walls. Why not makes things easier for yourself? Buy ear plugs. Or, alternatively, you could try… not complaining. Certainly a lot easier on yourself.”
wow so crever..
west
Strongly consider your comments. You have just insinuated that the people defending the KG men are doing so because of the race they belong to. Understand that race is no light issue in this country given our history.
@ the theinkhorn
like i said, i’m wondering IF that is the case. no?
Oh you’re just wondering. Well that’s definitely okay then. Go right ahead.
50)theinkhorn
“Buy ear plugs”
How can you suggest to someone who spent half a million on his residence to buy ear plug?
You should suggest to them to at least buy a house and stay besides the Ministers.
and 52)west
“i wonder if these same people would still defend the karang guni men if they were all indians or malay.”
Irregardless of race,anyone with the intention to earn a proper and honest living by being a karang guni or in any trade will gain my respect.
It will be even more interesting next time to see them not using their horn to announce their arrival but use chinese orchestra like trumpet,malay drum or indian flute etc.
I’m really surprise that some of you are really okay with this. Having to bear with them coming by several times a day (except rainy days) and spamming their horns for 5-15 minutes each is extremely annoying.
Sleep is an extremely important thing and we need sufficient uninterrupted sleep to perform well at work. I’m greatly affected by this as the nature of my job requires me to work in the night and my sleep is often disturbed by these people during the day.
I understand they are making a living but not at the cost of the people who need sleep. I’m not against them, just how they operate. The authorities should step in and do something about it.
A good idea would be to have a garang guni outlet for each neighborhood. This should be subsidized or in a way supported by the government as it also supports cleanliness as some of you have mentioned. People who have large objects to turn in can make a call to these outlets and they would can send someone down to collect their goods.
Yes, the way they operate will change if this is implemented but they will still have a job. Instead of walking around and spamming their horns they can work as a team in these facilities and separate the different types of recycling material. Instead of having different garang gunis go to the same location several times a day, an efficient route could be planned at the end of each day so that they can collect the items the following day.
There would be less noise, more efficiency, jobs are still maintained and everyone can have a good rest.
Being tolerant isn’t always an answer. I think complaints are good as they give us an opportunity to think of solutions to make our world a better place.
I will agree with anyone who deems the over-horning as Irritating. One is ok, but having up to 5 different in a day, or 3 in morning alone is too much. There are even days, like this moment when I am typing this, the horning is still going. Not to mention I’m staying on level 2, next to the carpark. Can you imagine the noise pollution for me?
Hi Darren(4Jan2010) & Adrian(8Feb2010), if u see tis reply can u contact me at Facebook, Franda Cha Popeye. Pls put the subject as Karung Guni. Thankyu.
I totally agree with Darren. People who needs sufficient sleep, especially weekends were disturbed by the honking. This is no channel for lodging such complaints. Guess we probably have to bear with this.
I agree that they are a total nuisance, and anathema of hdb dwellers. What makes it justifiable for them to promote their business at the expense of peace and quiet, without approval from their potential clients. It’s totally spamming and even worse than spam-mails.
I’m really sick of this problem. If you want the authorities to do something about it, I suggest that you do the following.
Email Contact_NEA@nea.gov.sg and include following email addresses below.
“Armain MANAP (NEA)”
“Karman MOHAMED KARFI (NEA)”
“Pragalathan N (NEA)”
“Mee Ling LAI (NEA)”
“Mei Hui LIM (NEA)”
“Mun Sun KONG (NEA)”
Do include your neighborhood town council.
After you are done, give a phone call to complain about the problem to the neighborhood police (not 999), neighborhood town council as well as the NEA (1800-2255632). The authorities have the habit to push the responsibilities around.
I really hope that all of you who are annoyed by this problem will do this and hopefully some action is taken to reduce noise is residential areas.
For some reason, the following emails didn’t appear.
Armain_MANAP@nea.gov.sg,
Karman_Mohamed_KARFI@nea.gov.sg,
Pragalathan_N@nea.gov.sg,
LAI_Mee_Ling@nea.gov.sg,
LIM_Mei_Hui@nea.gov.sg,
KONG_Mun_Sun@nea.gov.sg
Guess that I am not alone.
I live in Bt Batok East and I dun understand for watever reasons, this place seems to be a “hotspot” for the KGs.
They will come extremely early during weekends and public holidays.
Things started to become really really bad that I have had no choice but to call HDB. HDB said it was not under their scope and they referred me to TC. TC said it was the NEA Biz. So I called NEA and NEA said it was the TC issue. So i was like being pushed here and there.
So I decided to call the Bt Batok NPC for help. Guess what they told me? The most ridiculous answer that I had ever heard of. This policeman said they need to receive a “couple” of complaints before they can take action. I asked “couple” means two? The policeman said 3. I managed to get my neigbours to call, In the end, they never turned up.
I decided to do it my way. So whenever the KG comes, I will ask them to shut up from my window. Some were apologetic. Some will ignore. I even went down to challenge some of them though I seriously dun encourage this.
Finally, I decided to see my MP, Madam Halimah Yacob. She helped me to write a letter to the relevant department i.e. Jurong Town Council and soon after, I received a letter saying that they will try to “talk” to the KGs. Strangely, it worked quite well but it din last too long. The KGs made a comeback. So the whole saga starts all over again.
Until recently, I went to see my MP again to demand her to write to TC to put up 2 “No Honking” signs. I was too modest to ask for 2, should have asked for at least 5. So TC came to put up the signs last week. It was peace for 1 week now but once in awhile you still have super stubborn stains… I mean KGs ignoring the sign and honking happily.
To deal with them, I will grab my camera and rush down.
LukaSG
I am staying at the same residential area as you for almost 30 years and notice the incessant honkings have been really rampant since the last 2 years.
There are at least 5 KG men a day; starting as early as 8.45 till 6.30 in the evening. We had been shouting from our windows for them to stop but they don’t care.
Raining did not deter them from coming; it was worse! They went honking floor by floor. We opened the door and confronted them to shut up but they continued honking in mocking. One old Chinese lady even went to the carpark to tell them to stop which they did and walked away.
I did exactly like what you did; writing to Halimah Yaccob, Town Council, NEA and to the police but the issue was being pushed around. The police said they cannot do anything and asked to refer to NEA instead! The Town Council stated that they cannot stop them as we are living in public housing and this trade is not illegal eventhough they are not licenced. Does that mean that living in this half a million dollars pigeon hole, we are subdued to this nonsense? We have to “consumed” the loud honkings like it or not?!
The TC even conducted a programme called Cash for Trash with Colex to reduce the frequencies of th KG men visits but there have been no changes.
My emails have been going back and forth with the TC for the last 5 months and still no changes to the situation.