Elderly - and dying alone at home

Recent case of elderly couple found dead in their flat an unusual one

- Andrew Wong

Around two weeks before Christmas, Jurong resident Lim Chwee Guan noticed a strange smell wafting along the corridor of his 18th floor Housing Board unit.

After three days, the 78-year-old retiree alerted the police when he suspected something tragic had happened.

A number of residents who live in Block 338B Kang Ching Road, near Lakeside MRT, are senior citizens.

His fears came true on Dec 15, 2024, when police discovered the decomposing bodies of an elderly couple who lived on the 18th floor. They had died of natural causes.

While there have been reports of seniors dying alone in their flat, trauma cleaner Rahman Razali, of DDQ Services, said the Kang Ching Road incident was unusual.

His company is one of three firms in Singapore that are engaged by town councils to clean up a flat after such cases.

Said Mr Rahman: "My company attends between two and three cases every week involving seniors dying alone at home.

"But it is very rare to hear of two people dying together like this. I have only encountered one or two such cases after 10 years in this line of work."

There was a similar incident in 2022, when a 70-year-old man and his 92-year-old mother were found dead in their Tampines Street 22 flat.

Residents of Block 338B Kang Ching Road knew the couple as Mr Lim Eng Keong, 71, and Madam Mary Ong, 67.

Mr Lim Chwee Guan, who lived directly opposite the couple, told The Sunday Times in Mandarin: "I had not seen them for three days, so I thought they could have been hospitalised.

"But when the smell grew stronger, I knew something was wrong."

He said Mr Lim Eng Keong had several chronic ailments, and Madam Ong relied on a wheelchair to move around. She was dependent on her husband for most of her needs.

Mr Billy Ng, who lives alone on the 19th floor, said he last saw Mr Lim Eng Keong about three weeks before Christmas.