IT WAS the worst welcome the elderly couple living in a corner flat in Block 48, Stirling Road, could have received after their holiday.

Mr Lee Ong Eng, 75, and his wife, Madam Koh Ai Tee, 64, returned from a two-week China trip to find their three-room flat severely damaged by fire, their windows smashed, and the front metal grille door pulled down.

Their third-storey home had been ransacked and they lost $13,000 in valuables. Missing items included 20bottles of liquor and some cash, Lianhe Wanbao reported.

It is not known how the fire started.

We were unable to reach Mr Lee or his wife for comment.

The blaze started at about 11.30pm on 17 Apr.

A resident on the floor above, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Ong, was playing an online game when she smelled smoke.

A few moments later, she heard crashing sounds.

The 24-year-old administrative assistant said in Mandarin: ' I thought that somebody was cooking in the middle of the night.

'Then, I thought my neighbours were quarrelling and throwing things.'

It was only when smoke started coming in that she realised there was a fire and that the crashing sounds could have been that of things collapsing.

She and her mother-in-law left theflat.

THOUGHT SHE WOULD DIE

'My hands were trembling and I thought I'd die,' said Mrs Ong.

Her neighbours on the same floor, Mr Yusyady Abu Bakar and his family, who had turned in at 9.30pm, were woken by loud knocking noises.

When Mr Yusyadi opened the door, thick smoke poured in.

The 31-year-old store assistant said: 'I was in shock. At first, I thought I was still asleep and it was all a dream.'

Mr Yusyady, who is a reservist with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), was worried that his wife, 30, and daughters, 4 and 2, would suffer from smoke inhalation.

So he took them to the kitchen to 'makesure they got fresh air'.

Then, he knocked on his next-door neighbour's flat, thinking that was where the fire was.

Mr Yusyady said: 'There was so much black smoke, I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Even with a torchlight, I couldn't really see.'

Mr Yusyady covered his daughters' mouths with wet cloth and, with his wife's help, carried them downstairs.

Many residents were already there, but a few remained near the flat, trying to put out the fire with pails of water. Two students broke the windows to throw water into the flat.

Mr Yusyady, who went back upstairs after taking his family to safety, also tried to help.

But, he recalled: 'The water just kept evaporating. I was scared there would be an explosion.'

He was handed a fire extinguisher, but he could not get it towork.

Firemen soon arrived and put out the blaze using two hoses.

Lieutenant Colonel N Subhas, the SCDF director of public affairs, said: 'As our investigators detected there were two areas of fires in unrelated spots of the flat - one in the bedroom and one in the living room - we are treating this case as a suspicious fire.'

There were no casualties and the police evacuated about 30 people.

They returned home at about 1am.

When asked whether the flat had been ransacked before or after the fire, the police said they are stillinvestigating.

The Lees returned on 18 Apr and are understood to be staying with their daughter.

A neighbour, Mr Khoo Kuen Leong, 43, said: '(When) I saw I their daughter, she looked really angry and said someone had broken into her parents' home. (She said) the drawers had been opened.'

Mr Yuswady said: 'I saw the uncle on Sunday. He looked very sad.'

Police: Before going away...

• Lock all doors and windows and cancel all deliveries (such as newspapers) for the period you are away
• Keep large sums of cash in the bank and expensive jewellery in a safe deposit box
• Do not leave notes outside your home announcing your absence
• Ask neighbours to keep an eye on your house while you are away

This article was first published in The New Paper on April 26, 2008.