5 days ago
- General
- Independent Singapore
‘Do new BTO lifts always look so creepy?' — Singapore resident asks, while other residents say, ‘0 intervention by the authorities anyway'
SINGAPORE: If you've ever stepped into a brand-new BTO lift expecting that fresh 'new home' vibe but instead got the full Asian horror game treatment, you're not alone.
A Singaporean resident took to Reddit with a simple but unnerving question: 'Do new BTO lifts always look so creepy?'
Do new BTO lifts always look so creepy?
byu/real_grocer inSingaporeRaw
The image they shared showed a lift interior plastered with renovation ads, talisman-like stickers, and enough random visuals to make it feel like you'd accidentally stepped into a horror escape room. 'I called the town council…'
One resident confirmed: 'Yes… Any new BTO flats will be covered with poster ads and so on. Nothing new.'
It seems this phenomenon isn't rare — it's practically a BTO rite of passage. New blocks often have lifts covered wall-to-wall with glossy renovation company posters, mortgage offers, and mysterious contact numbers, as if the walls themselves had turned into classified ad sections.
Another commenter summed up the frustration: 'Every time I tore one down, two more took its place, until I called the town council.' '0 intervention by the authorities anyway…'
According to multiple accounts from others, town councils will step in if residents report the mess. One resident shared that during their block's Home Improvement Programme (HIP), the posters were forcefully removed after complaints.
Still, many say the authorities seem to turn a blind eye. As one person put it: '0 intervention by the authorities anyway.'
Another hinted at why: 'They have CCTV, so enforcement is not an issue, but I guess it is more like these services are what people need anyway, so the authorities close one eye and clear them out when the unit is fully ready.'
Translation: As long as the building isn't officially 'done,' companies seem to get away with treating the lift walls like free advertising space. 'Artistic…' or 'Siao lang lift…'?
Not everyone saw it as vandalism, though. One commenter argued, tongue-in-cheek:
'Artistic what. If not, people say Singapore boring lah, sterile lah, nanny state lah, no outlet for expression lah, stifle creativity lah, never support art lah.'
Others weren't convinced, calling the look 'siao lang (crazy person) lift' and comparing it to Hong Kong's famously cramped and cluttered apartment lifts.
A few even gave it a supernatural twist: 'An abundance of talismans guarantees your safe passage,' one joked. 'Hungry Ghost Festival coming mah… followed by Halloween,' another poked fun as well. 'It took 1.5 years for them to remove…'
Even when the posters eventually come down, the aftermath isn't pretty.
One resident lamented: 'It took 1.5 years for them to remove the acrylic board and another 2 months to clean up the adhesive.'
Another chimed in with the same experience: 'Same here, my BTO lift looks like this too. I'm staying in Tengah.'
In other words, while your new BTO might be ready for you to move in, your lift could be stuck in renovation ads purgatory for months — or even years. 'It looks like vandalism to me…'
From the comments, the culprits are almost always renovation companies. They know new homeowners will need contractors, so they plaster their services right where people can't avoid them — in the lifts everyone has to use.
One frustrated resident didn't hold back: 'Yes, all new BTOs lifts look like that, and these are the reno companies you must avoid, because if they are good, they won't need to turn the wall into their sticker book.'
Some residents argue it borders on illegality: 'Isn't it sort of against the law to do that? It looks like vandalism to me…'
But until stricter rules come into force — or swifter enforcement kicks in, it seems these 'creepy' lifts are here to stay… at least for now. Your final lift experience…
The next time you step into your supposed-to-be shiny new BTO lift, but it feels like a mix between a ghost-hunting mission and a classifieds directory, know this: you're not alone.
For some, it's a nuisance. For others, it's urban 'art.' For everyone else, it's a reminder that in Singapore, even your daily elevator ride can be… some kind of an experience.
Well… maybe until the Hungry Ghost Festival is over… hopefully.
In other news, another Singaporean wasn't talking about creepy lifts, but about something far more unsettling — the way people in Singapore have changed to become less caring about each other.
'Beyond the nostalgia overload and the business of growing up, I do think something [in Singapore] has been lost,' he said, noting that 'Singapore is first-world in everything but not first-world in behaviour' — SG journalist opines why S'poreans have 'lost' their warmth and kindness
