Whenever an elderly person who lives alone passes away, it’s always heartbreaking news.
This is especially as the deceased would have left this world all alone, with nobody knowing of their demise until a decaying corpse is found.
Sadly, this has happened yet again — an elderly man passed away in his Toa Payoh flat.
Source: Google Maps
It was only after his body was found that a neighbour recalled that his potted plants had started wilting a week before.
The deceased man lived in a flat on the 9th floor of Block 174 Toa Payoh Lorong 1, reported Shin Min Daily News.
He was found dead on Saturday (24 June) afternoon.
Source: Google Maps
The police said they’d received a report of a case of unnatural death at about 2.50pm.
A 77-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.
No foul play was involved, according to preliminary investigations.
Due to the strong stench emanating from the flat, police officers entering the scene were all wearing masks.
Neighbours who came over to check out what happened also wore masks.
At about 6pm, the police took the body away.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
A neighbour named only as Mdm Zhang, 70, said she usually saw the deceased watering the plants outside his flat.
However, she hadn’t seen him for about two weeks, she added.
A week ago, she noticed that his potted plants had started to wilt — but apparently still didn’t realise that anything was amiss.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Three days ago, Mdm Zhang knocked at this door and received no response and wondered whether he’d gone overseas.
She ended up helping him water his plants.
Finally, the day before, her brother came to visit and noticed a foul smell coming from his unit as he walked past.
That was when she decided to call the police.
Another neighbour named only as Mrs Lin said she’d detected the bad smell two weeks ago.
The 31-year-old analyst said the smell later started becoming worse.
However, she thought it was due to wet clothes or poor hygiene practices by neighbours.
Other neighbours on the same floor said the deceased had lived there for about 30 years.
He used to live with an older female relative, but lived alone after she passed away many years ago.
Mdm Zhang said the man was tall and thin but was quiet and seldom interacted with others.
Neither did she see him have any visitors, she added.
In fact, she didn’t even know his name despite being neighbours for so many years.
The only thing she recalled was that his most recent job was in security.
Unfortunately, the 77-year-old man wasn’t the only elderly person who passed away in that block recently.
On 9 Aug last year, which happened to be National Day, a man in his 60s or 70s was found dead in a unit on the same floor.
Neighbour Mr He, 47, told Shin Min that his death was discovered only when a bad smell was detected.
Another neighbour Mdm Chen, 59, said the deceased’s windows weren’t entirely shut.
Thus, the stench was even worse than Saturday’s.
In January 2022, a 67-year-old man was found dead in his flat in Block 170 Toa Payoh Lorong 1.
A neighbour had detected a foul odour from his flat for about one week.
MS News offers our condolences to the deceased’s loved ones, if he has any left. May he rest in peace.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Shin Min Daily News.
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