Joanne Peh Alludes She Was Conned By A Contractor While Renovating Her House; Sparks Fierce Discussion Among Netizens
Some accused the actress of generalising that all contractors are dishonest.
It’s no secret that Joanne Peh, 38, and Qi Yuwu, 44, have run into quite a bit of trouble when it comes to renovating their dream house.
The couple first shared in September last year that they bought a new home located in the east side of Singapore recently and that renovation works had already started. It was previously reported that their new home is a landed property. Joanne has since confirmed that that is not true, though she declined to reveal more about their new place.
At that time, Yuwu shared in an interview with 8days.sg that he and his wife had run into a couple of problems regarding the reno. However, they still hoped to move into their new place by the end of the year.
Unfortunately, more than a year on, the couple are still not done with the reno.
Along the way, we’ve gotten snippets of their struggles with securing reliable contractors and vendors through updates on Joanne’s IG.
Like this post from June, where the actress shared that she has invested so much time speaking to different companies and learning about their culture”, adding that she and 715 could tell when vendors are in for the quick buck or if they’re truly passionate about what they’re doing .
However, her recent post was a little different.
On Nov 12, Joanne hinted that she had run into a contractor who wasn't being totally honest.
Contractors — perhaps there’s a reason why it starts with CON, though I cannot understand why it has to be this way. Do I look like a carrot?” she questioned in her post.
Her post stirred up some very strong feelings among netizens.
Some chimed in to share their experience with less-than-professional contractors, while others rushed to declare that #notallcontractors were like that.
I need to voice out and share. Not all contractors are con man or actors! Please do not generalise all contractor (sic). We make honest [and] hard living too and do not expect all to understand the difficulties of our trade (sic),” wrote a netizen who runs a renovation company.
In her reply, Joanne said that she understands where the netizen is coming from.
I do believe in the goodness of people and there’ll be bad eggs who bring down the good ones, as with any industry, she wrote.
In other replies to netizens, Joanne revealed that she hopes that there is a way to provide some kind of regulation or more transparency to protect both homeowners and the industry builders/contractors who want to and can deliver good work at open and fair prices.”
It’s a home to us, a place that gives us protection and peace, but it’s often just another project to them,” she wrote.
Most discussions were civil, with Joanne replying to a number of comments from netizens with varying experiences, both negative and positive.
However, one particular exchange with a netizen got a little heated.
The netizen wrote that it was “unprofessional and unfair” of Joanne to generalise and stereotype all contractors just because of [her] own personal experience or point of view.”
I can understand and empathise on her situation, but to vent those feelings publicly and then criticising the entire trade instead going through the right channels and avenues seems inappropriate, the netizen went on to write.
In reply, Joanne wrote that she was merely sharing a “caption to spark conversation” and that it was wrong for the netizen to gaslight [her] circumstances by calling her 'unprofessional' or 'unfair' since he or she doesn't know half [her] story .
Who are you to tell me how and what I should or should not share? Or that I need to specifically state what happened? Doing that draws the wrong kind of attention, because everyone will choose sides and that’s not the intent — as I will reiterate. Others have done well in this line of comment to share their experience and side of the story which [you] may like to reference,” Joanne went on to write in her final reply to said netizen.