In a tragic incident on 15 April, a man was found lying motionless in a hawker centre stall.
He was later pronounced dead at the scene.
What Happened
On the morning of 15 April, a 49-year-old stall assistant was found lying motionless in a stall selling frozen and chilled food products, located in Bukit Merah View Market and Hawker Centre.
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The stall owner and a friend tried and failed to wake him up at around 6 am that day.
The friend had attempted to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on him, but to no avail.
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, 70-year-old Madam Lim, who sells fish at the market, reported witnessing the incident.
She said that she had seen the man lying down in the stall since 3 am, when she opened her stall.
According to her, the owner of the frozen food products stall had arrived at 6 am, and attempted to rouse his assistant by nudging him multiple times, but the man did not respond.
Later, his friend arrived to perform CPR, but his efforts were fruitless.
At around 6.35 am, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) received a call for assistance.
When they arrived at the scene, a paramedic pronounced the man dead. The police were also informed of the incident at around 6.33 am.
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Investigations are underway, but no foul play is suspected in his death.
56-year-old Pronounced Dead At North Bridge Food Centre
In another case, a 56-year-old man was seen “sleeping” at North Bridge Road Market and Food Centre on 19 March.
It was discovered he was dead only 12 hours later.
The workers there thought the man was simply sleeping, as it was a common occurence in food centres.
66-year-old cleaning supervisor Mr Liu assumed the man was drunk and did not pay him much attention.
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The man had entered the hawker centre at 3 am that day, but was only found to be unresponsive at 8 pm, when Mr Liu repeatedly attempted to rouse him.
The 56-year-old was later pronounced dead at the scene by emergency services.
Dying Unnoticed: Is It Common?
But, exactly how common is it to die unnoticed in Singapore?
According to a study by the Department of Statistics, there’s currently an upward trend in one-person households. These households made up 8.2% of Singapore households in 2000, but now comprise 15%, or approximately 208,000 households.
It’s also estimated that 83,000 seniors will be living alone by 2030, compared to 47,000 in 2016.
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Professor Jean Yeung, the founding director of the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Family and Population Research, said this isolation could lead to more people dying without anyone knowing.
In 2020, 48 people died alone, and police had to appeal to their next of kin through their website to claim their bodies.
Still, it’s apparently unusual in Singapore to die unnoticed and undetected—though there is no official data on its prevalence, agencies caring for seniors report hearing about only one or two of these deaths yearly.
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