Two men, two trees, smoke and ants

A state assemblyperson and a Kuching businessman have lodged police reports against each other over a neighbourly tiff.

Kuching businessman Tay Chiew Foo lodged the report against Snowdan Lawan, the BN state rep for Balai Ringin, for alleged assault, intimidation and defamation.

In turn, Snowdon filed a police report against the 63-year-old businessman for alleged intimidation.

This arose from a quarrel between the two adjoining house owners last Sunday which started after the politician complained that the canopy of the trees on his neighbour’s side of the land had reached over the roof and compound of his semi-detached house in Tabuan Jaya in Kuching.

Tay, accompanied by his wife and lawyer See Chee How, went to the Simpang Tiga police station to lodge the report yesterday morning.

The politician had complained to his neighbour that his (Tay’s) house compound was dirty and wanted him to cut the two trees outside his compound as the canopy of one of them had crossed over to his side..

Tay and his family do not live in the house but his sub-contractor and workers stay there. Snowdon and his family live there and it is learnt that he had approached Tay sometime ago to offer to buy his house. But no deal has been closed. They are apparently no strangers to each other.

Big red ants there

According to Tay’s report, he went to the house that morning to inspect the progress of the clearing work and he saw some branches were left unattended on the ground and asked his workers why this was so.

“The workers told me they could not touch them because of the presence of big red ants, so I asked my two immediate neighbours to give me a tyre tube and some old newspapers to smoke the ants,” the businessman said.

“But it was insufficient to battle the ants, so I then asked my driver to bring some more tyre tubes to do the job so that the branches could be removed to the roadside,” he said, adding that the burning and the smoking were done when it was drizzling and later it rained.

Soon after, Tay said, the politician stormed across into his house compound and started shouting at him.

“I explained to him that I was cutting the trees as he had asked me to do, and that I had smoked the ants to kill or chase them away so the ants would not go to the neighbours’ houses, including his.”

Tay said his neighbour was very angry. He went back home and came back shortly with a fire extinguisher.

“He came back and started to verbally abuse me and then put out the smoke,” Tay said, adding that the politician continued to shout abuse, boasting that “he is a YB, he could get the police to arrest me and even put me in jail and that he would also call the Department of Environment (DOE) and the Kuching City South Council to fine me.”

Tay recalled “the politician also said he is a YB and he could take those action and that I am a nobody.”

Then Snowdan left and soon his father Donald Lawan (a former state assemblyperson and an Iban businessman) came to Tay’s house. Tay claimed the father also started shouting abuses as well.

You want to fight

“Then Snowdon came out again, and tried to challenge me to a fight by pushing me,” the businessman said, adding that he told him he did not want a fight with him “because I am old, and we can meet, come next election, and that my family and I would not be supporting him as we did in the past.”

“I then said that I would be writing to the chief minister on his misconduct and bad behaviour as I was badly insulted and embarrassed in front of our neighbours,” according to Tay in his police report.

Then he said as the politician was advancing towards him in a fierce manner, “my wife and his father tried to push him away to prevent the YB from hitting me.”

In the commotion, Tay recalled that his wife was pushed and fell, injuring herself in the process.

Tay enclosed photos showing the injuries sustained by his wife and treatment by a Chinese physician in Kuala Lumpur ( see photos ).

Soon after that policemen came and the businessman explained to them it was not a burning of bushes but merely a smoking to chase away the big red ants.

The following day, Tay said that when he returned to the house at noon, he saw five officers from the DOE who told him that the politician had called them and that they had come to check.

“I explained to them that it was just a smoking and not a burning of the bushes. I believe they were also bitten by the red ants and they saw the drain with the rubbish and bottles. Then they left,” Tay said.

Later, he was advised by his lawyer to lodge a police report and also to file a suit against Snowdon for threatening to hit him and challenging him to a fight.

However, Tay said that he to leave for Kuala Lumpur that day and only after his return that he lodged the report yesterday (Friday).

Tay said he could not understand why his neighbour was so angry.

Police are carrying out cross investigations.