KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 -- When Hatta Midy first moved to the Kg Baru Hicom People's Housing Project (PPR) in 2010, the Sekinchan-born writer sought nothing more than a quiet sanctuary to live, eat, and sleep between shifts.

He quietly tolerated the rampant littering and the indiscriminate dumping that plagued the public housing community, ensuring his own habits remained beyond reproach. Yet, Hatta's personal responsibility offered no protection from the projectiles launched from the floors above.

The breaking point arrived on a fateful morning in 2017. Dressed for the day, Hatta was walking along the ground floor corridor toward his motorcycle when a resident from an upper floor spat on him.

Composed but frustrated, he returned home to...