Man's body found in HDB flat

SINGAPORE - He would be seen at the market early in the morning.

And he liked to walk around the neighbourhood in the afternoons.

In the evenings, he would park himself outside the lift landing and greet his neighbours as they returned home from work.

For the past few days, some residents of Block 117, Ho Ching Road, Jurong West, had noticed the absence of their friendly neighbour, Mr Ong Geok Soon.

But they thought nothing of it.

Until they saw police officers outside Mr Ong's flat last night.

His decomposed body was discovered by the police inside his two-room HDB flat on the fifth storey of Block 117.

A relative said he was a bachelor in his 80s.

Police said they were told about a foul smell coming from Mr Ong's flat at about 3.55pm yesterday. Investigations are ongoing.

One of Mr Ong's relatives, who wanted to be known only as Madam Ong, told The New Paper that she received a call from her friend who works at a coffee shop, telling her that Mr Ong had been found dead inside his flat.

She said in Mandarin: "I got the news at about 4pm. Recently, he had been complaining of pain in his legs. My relatives and I wondered if he had fallen and died inside his flat. We were told that he could have been dead for four days."

Madam Ong's mother is Mr Ong's sister-in-law.

She said that Mr Ong had been living alone in the flat for more than a decade.

"He had three older sisters and one older brother, who have all died," said Madam Ong.

She added that her mother, who is in her 80s, would visit Mr Ong occasionally.

An old man who lives in the rented flat next to Mr Ong's described him as a friendly man who would smile and nod whenever he walked past his flat.