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The New Paper
Monday, Nov 05, 2012
SINGAPORE - Neighbours last saw him walking to a rubbish chute at the end of his HDB corridor several days before he was found dead.
Mr Soh Boo Tuan, 81, was discovered in his one-room flat in Block 3, Jalan Kukoh, last Sunday after someone called the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to say that there was a bad smell coming from the flat.
The SCDF said Mr Soh's body was already in a state of decomposition when they entered the flat.
When The New Paper visited Mr Soh's flat last Thursday, neighbours said there had been a strong smell coming from the flat.
"The smell was very bad. I could even smell it from my flat on Friday (even though the body had been taken away)," said a neighbour, who lived a few doors away from Mr Koh and wanted to be known only as Kelvin.
Lived alone
Kelvin also said that Mr Soh lived alone and that he was sometimes visited by social workers.
"I tried to say hello to him, but he wouldn't talk. There are a lot of old folks here. They live alone. No one looks after them. Sometimes they sit alone in the park with a distant look on their faces," said Kelvin.
Another neighbour, Mr Cao Shuai, 25, who rents a flat several doors away, said that he was shocked when he heard of Mr Soh's death.
"It's scary how no one knew that he died. My mum told me that (Mr Soh) was a polite man, he would say hello to the neighbours," said Mr Cao, who lives with his mum in the rented flat.
Other neighbours TNP spoke to had never interacted with Mr Soh.
"I don't really know him. I just saw him a few times," said Mr Md Nizar, 20, who lives about four doors from Mr Soh's flat.
"I could smell (his decomposed body) from my flat. I thought it was just a rat that had died," added Mr Nizar.
The police are investigating the case, which has been classified as unnatural death.
