Don’t rush to sign that renovation contract

YOU’VE received the keys to your dream home and have visions of transforming it into a stylish sanctuary reflecting your lifestyle and taste. But who do you call to do the renovation work?

Unless someone recommends an interior design firm to you, finding a good one can be the luck of the draw. It doesn’t help that the renovation industry has a rather shady reputation – it has the ignominy of taking top spot in the number of complaints received by the Consumers Association of Singapore in 2022. The 1,454 complaints last year represented a 12 per cent year-on-year increase.

After getting the short end of the renovation stick, local comedian Kelvin Tan decided he was going to fix the problem – by going into the business himself. It helps that Tan, better known as Mayiduo – an Ah Beng character he created from a viral TikTok video for his Mandarin social media content company, Double Up – is one of those who fearlessly ventures into new fields.