I read with dismay about the recent accident where an old woman's hand was severed by a lift ("Woman's hand severed in lift accident at HDB block"; Oct 10).

What is worse is that the residents in the block had reportedly been complaining about problems with the lift, and it appears that the feedback was not taken seriously ("Woman to undergo op today for leg fracture"; Oct 12).

This is a timely reminder for town councils to take residents' feedback seriously.

As a resident in Tanjong Pagar GRC, I complained about a problem with the lift button in my block to Tanjong Pagar Town Council.

The staff said that they had taken note of the feedback, but after a week, nothing was done to resolve the problem with the lift button.

I have also not received any status updates on the progress of the follow-up to my complaint.

My mother has also complained to the town council about the large amount of dead leaves accumulating in the gutter of a sheltered walkway which could result in mosquito breeding.

Again, nothing has been done.

In the past, many rodents were found in my neighbourhood and I made a complaint to the town council, but nothing was done about it.

It was only when a rodent managed to climb up the sewage pipe to our flat and I decided to write to my MP that something was done.

Is this the way that town councils work? Without adequate progress update of each complaint, residents would not bother any more.

As much as we would like a safe and clean environment, we need to have real action taken for each complaint. Otherwise, it would seem as if the town councils are not taking feedback from their residents seriously, and accidents may occur.

I urge all town councils to take feedback from residents seriously to prevent accidents from happening.

Soh Kar Chiang