Losing your marbles?

Time for some quirky stuff. This letter was published in the ST on the 6th of June:

I can hear marbles... or am I losing mine?

IN THE 15 years I lived in my three-room HDB flat in Lorong Ah Soo, my family had to endure what sounded like marbles being dropped on the floor of the unit above mine. Strangely, this seemed to take place only at night, at times in the wee hours of the morning. Never one for confrontation, I did not speak to the occupants upstairs, and we lived with it.

We moved to Punggol 21 five years ago, and the sound of marbles dropping in the wee hours of the morning seems to have followed us. I once trotted upstairs to see what sort of neighbours I have and the occupants were an elderly woman, her weak elderly husband and their domestic help. It is unlikely they played with marbles, and certainly not in the wee hours of the morning.

From conversations with friends, I was astounded to learn that this sound of dropping marbles is a widespread phenomenon in Singapore. It seems it happens only in HDB flats. One of my friends even suggested it may be the way HDB flats are built.

...

... and was followed by this affirmation from another reader today:

'Marbles' on the brain? Take them in the right spirit

...

Having lived in four different HDB flats from my childhood to my present nesting ground, the familiar sound of marbles has become integral to my idea of HDB living. Amid all sorts of sounds, pleasant or otherwise, my reaction has progressed from being spooked, irritated and curious to mostly nonchalant now.

Until a better explanation can be found, my only explanation of the sound of marbles on the floor of the unit above mine is that certain jinn, or creatures from the other dimension, are fond of making such noises in the wee hours of the morning. Especially after all the neighbours above my unit have moved out! This was the case when my family was among the last few left behind in our block which was affected by the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme.

...

If it is any relief to Mr Wong, I no longer hear the 'marbles', though my eldest son has described them exactly as Mr Wong did.

So we all know what to expect now - a letter from the HDB, thanking them for their feedback, stating these are design features, how the majority of the people polled liked the sounds, and that the readers are welcome to call the HDB at 1800-xxxxxxx to register their feedback.

This will be followed by the ST doing a full page report investigating the marbles, and coming to the conclusion that it was probably the airconditioning, or the plumbing or something innocuous. Investigative journalism at its best!