Man granted Singapore court order over sister who repeatedly cleaned his room over 8 years

The man said his privacy had been intruded on, which stressed him so much that he was admitted to the Institute of Mental Health a few times

Reading Time:4 minutes

A woman cleaning a room with a man standing next to her. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 1:20pm, 2 Nov 2024

Two adult siblings went to a family court in Singapore to obtain court orders against each other – the brother complained that his sister had been entering his room repeatedly over eight years to clean it, while the sister alleged that her brother had assaulted her.

The court granted orders to both siblings: a personal protection order (PPO) and a partial domestic exclusion order for the brother, excluding his sister from entering his bedroom, and a personal protection order for the sister against her brother.

According to a judgment made available on Thursday , the unidentified brother’s chief complaint was that his sister repeatedly entered his bedroom to clean it.

He felt that his privacy had been intruded on, and it caused him such stress that he was admitted to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) a few times.

In her defence, the sister explained that she merely wanted to clean the room “as her siblings did not clean their rooms”.

She applied for a personal protection order against her brother over an incident when tensions erupted over the cleaning issue, and her brother assaulted her.

District Judge Tan Zhi Xiang said the court was empowered to make a protection order under the Women’s Charter, with two requirements that must be met.