I knew the corridor outside my front door was narrow, but I didn’t know for sure how slim it was until a recent fire safety-related circular prompted me to whip out a measuring tape. The note was about the problem of shoe racks, bikes, plants and more placed in common corridors that are less than 1.2m wide. I, too, was tempted to ignore such nagging, like many people do in neighbourhoods all over Singapore.

When I measured my corridor, it was about 1.2m wide. Any clutter in that narrow space would put me at risk in case of fire. It got me thinking.