O$P$

At first I didn't want to blog about this, because I thought it might worry my parents. Then I realised, I just spent seven weeks tramping all over Vietnam, during which time they probably worried over any number of things. This is small potatoes compared to that.

So here's the story: O$P$, for those of you not down with Singapore jargon, is vandalism shorthand for "owe money pay money". It's what loan sharks use to mark their territory on the walls around the homes of people who owe them money. You know, to cause them general embarrassment and unease, to make them pay up more quickly.

Between 11 am and 4 pm on Tuesday, someone scrawled O$P$ in red on various walls in the block where I live, appending the apartment number and (I presume) phone number and name of the loan defaulter to their warning. The door of the apartment in question was also defaced with paint. I know this because I live right next door. (That's the little detail that I thought might make my parents worry.)

Before 3 pm yesterday, the offending red marks on the white walls had been smudgily cleaned and painted over. I suspect I also overheard my neighbour speaking to some kind of authority figure, though not a policeman.

At some point today, the tireless vandal had scrawled more O$P$ accusations, again in red, over or beside the painted-over areas.

Now I'm wondering if this is going to turn into a battle of wills: can the local housing authority paint over the red marks faster than the guy with the red pen can go around marking up the place? Stay tuned ...