Marbly ceilings

The Straits Times, 6th June 2005
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.

As a non-believer in the supernatural, I am eager to understand this mystery that is fast becoming an urban legend. I may have a legitimate reason to ask the HDB to explain it, since it seems to inflict only flats built by it.

Joseph Wong Yong Lye

Oooooo...perfect fodder for the one-millionth sequel in the True Singapore Ghost Stories franchise, no? I've heard these sounds before too...as a kid. These days, I am just too zonked out or just plain out in the wee hours to notice any marbly ceilings. Does give you the creeps, ya? Imagine some crazed old lady or bloodied child with missing limbs dropping marbles on the floor just to spook the people below them...oh yeah! you feel your goosebumps yet??