For years, Lim Kim Yam, 85, lived alone in a flat overflowing with newspapers, old gadgets, appliances, and other belongings, with barely enough room to move.
“I’ve been living here for 48 years,” he shared. “When my mother was around, she kept everything spick and span. After she passed away, I didn’t tidy up, so things just gradually accumulated.” The clutter worried his neighbours, Mr and Mrs Chan, who lived next door. “We were always afraid of a fire,” Mr Chan recalled. “But we didn’t say anything for fear of offending him.”
Everything changed when Kim Yam fell seriously ill.

