<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=560><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=550 colSpan=2>They lived next to rotting corpse for up to a year <!-- TITLE : end--><!--
Neighbours said they did not want to disturb reclusive man. -AFP --></TD></TR><TR>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=content_subtitle align=left>Tue, Dec 08, 2009
AFP </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD width=400 align=right><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right>
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</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right><FORM method=post name=emailToFriendForm action=emailToFriend.jsp><INPUT value=/vgn-ext-templating/asiaone/emailToFriend.jsp?vgnextoid=b508fab0b6c65210VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=2ebaadbd2b722110VgnVCM100000bd0a0a0aRCRD type=hidden name=emailToFriendPageURL> <INPUT value=http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20091208-184670.html type=hidden name=emailToFriendStoryLink>
</FORM><SCRIPT> function openEmailA1AdminWindow(emailToFriendForm) { var emailToFriendPageURL = emailToFriendForm.emailToFriendPageURL.value; emailToFriendForm.action = emailToFriendPageURL; emailToFriendForm.target="_blank"; emailToFriendForm.submit(); } </SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><!-- Story Without Image / With eXtra Large Image End --><TR><TD class=bodytext_10pt colSpan=3><!-- CONTENT : start -->SINGAPORE, Dec 8, 2009 (AFP) - Residents of a public housing block in Singapore ignored the stench coming from a dead man's flat for months because they did not want to disturb him, the Straits Times reported Tuesday.
A coroner's enquiry was told Monday that Tan Cheng Soon, 69, might have been dead for between six and 12 months when his skeletal remains were finally discovered after a neighbour called the police in January, according to the newspaper.
Foo Jong Ming, 30, told the daily that he had not seen Tan since May last year and decided to inform the police when he could no longer take the foul smell from the loner's one-room apartment.
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=300 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/static/ads/scripts/adsimu.js"></SCRIPT><!-- AdSpace 300X250 A1-STI IMU --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 type=text/javascript src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/site=tasiaonenews&sec=asiaonea1news&pagepos=1&size=300X250"></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT><!-- /AdSpace --><SCRIPT src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/DartRichMedia_1_03.js"></SCRIPT><!-- Sniffer Code for Flash version=80 --><SCRIPT language=VBScript> on error resume next ShockMode = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.8")))</SCRIPT><OBJECT id=flashad codeBase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" classid=clsid
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<EMBED SRC="http://adimage.asia1.com.sg/2008/sph/newslink/newslink_2008Oct16_300x250e.swf?clickTag=http%3A//ads.asia1.com.sg/event.ng/Type%3Dclick%26FlightID%3D18805%26AdID%3D22536%26TargetID%3D3299%26Segments%3D1%2C81%2C238%2C564%2C999%2C1211%2C1779%2C1780%2C1784%2C1891%2C2000%2C2061%2C2099%2C2355%2C2410%2C2428%2C2731%2C2809%2C2829%2C2851%2C2875%2C2881%2C2887%2C2912%2C2915%2C2936%2C2960%2C3007%26Targets%3D2065%2C3730%2C3299%2C3525%26Values%3D31%2C51%2C60%2C82%2C91%2C100%2C110%2C130%2C150%2C196%2C266%2C942%2C960%2C1978%2C2253%2C2762%2C2807%2C2839%2C2865%2C2908%2C2920%2C4074%2C4086%2C4118%2C4119%2C4120%2C4335%2C4342%2C5633%2C5640%2C5663%2C5915%2C5977%2C5980%26RawValues%3DDOCUMENTURI%252C/js.ng/site%3Dtasiaonenews%26sec%3Dasiaonea1news%26pagepos%3D1%26size%3D300X250%26Redirect%3Dhttp%3A%252f%252fnewslink.asiaone.com" QUALITY=autohigh NAME=flashad swLiveConnect=TRUE WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 TYPE="application/x-shockwave-flash" PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></EMBED></OBJECT><NOEMBED></NOEMBED><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"Nobody wanted to disturb him," said Foo's wife Khanittha.</P>A spokesman for the Singapore Civil Defence Force told AFP Tuesday that they broke into Tan's locked flat and found a decomposed body, but it was only in October that DNA tests confirmed the identity of the remains.
The coroner recorded an open verdict on Tan's death, which means the exact cause could not be determined.
Most Singaporeans live in densely populated public housing estates like Tan's because of land scarcity, and an increasing number of elderly citizens live on their own due to longer life expectancy.
Tan lived on the 12th floor of a rent-controlled apartment building close to the city centre.
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Neighbours said they did not want to disturb reclusive man. -AFP --></TD></TR><TR>
AFP </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD width=400 align=right><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right>
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</FORM><SCRIPT> function openEmailA1AdminWindow(emailToFriendForm) { var emailToFriendPageURL = emailToFriendForm.emailToFriendPageURL.value; emailToFriendForm.action = emailToFriendPageURL; emailToFriendForm.target="_blank"; emailToFriendForm.submit(); } </SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><!-- Story Without Image / With eXtra Large Image End --><TR><TD class=bodytext_10pt colSpan=3><!-- CONTENT : start -->SINGAPORE, Dec 8, 2009 (AFP) - Residents of a public housing block in Singapore ignored the stench coming from a dead man's flat for months because they did not want to disturb him, the Straits Times reported Tuesday.A coroner's enquiry was told Monday that Tan Cheng Soon, 69, might have been dead for between six and 12 months when his skeletal remains were finally discovered after a neighbour called the police in January, according to the newspaper.
Foo Jong Ming, 30, told the daily that he had not seen Tan since May last year and decided to inform the police when he could no longer take the foul smell from the loner's one-room apartment.
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=300 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/static/ads/scripts/adsimu.js"></SCRIPT><!-- AdSpace 300X250 A1-STI IMU --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 type=text/javascript src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/site=tasiaonenews&sec=asiaonea1news&pagepos=1&size=300X250"></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT><!-- /AdSpace --><SCRIPT src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/DartRichMedia_1_03.js"></SCRIPT><!-- Sniffer Code for Flash version=80 --><SCRIPT language=VBScript> on error resume next ShockMode = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.8")))</SCRIPT><OBJECT id=flashad codeBase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" classid=clsid
27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000 width=300 height=250><EMBED SRC="http://adimage.asia1.com.sg/2008/sph/newslink/newslink_2008Oct16_300x250e.swf?clickTag=http%3A//ads.asia1.com.sg/event.ng/Type%3Dclick%26FlightID%3D18805%26AdID%3D22536%26TargetID%3D3299%26Segments%3D1%2C81%2C238%2C564%2C999%2C1211%2C1779%2C1780%2C1784%2C1891%2C2000%2C2061%2C2099%2C2355%2C2410%2C2428%2C2731%2C2809%2C2829%2C2851%2C2875%2C2881%2C2887%2C2912%2C2915%2C2936%2C2960%2C3007%26Targets%3D2065%2C3730%2C3299%2C3525%26Values%3D31%2C51%2C60%2C82%2C91%2C100%2C110%2C130%2C150%2C196%2C266%2C942%2C960%2C1978%2C2253%2C2762%2C2807%2C2839%2C2865%2C2908%2C2920%2C4074%2C4086%2C4118%2C4119%2C4120%2C4335%2C4342%2C5633%2C5640%2C5663%2C5915%2C5977%2C5980%26RawValues%3DDOCUMENTURI%252C/js.ng/site%3Dtasiaonenews%26sec%3Dasiaonea1news%26pagepos%3D1%26size%3D300X250%26Redirect%3Dhttp%3A%252f%252fnewslink.asiaone.com" QUALITY=autohigh NAME=flashad swLiveConnect=TRUE WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 TYPE="application/x-shockwave-flash" PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></EMBED></OBJECT><NOEMBED></NOEMBED><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"Nobody wanted to disturb him," said Foo's wife Khanittha.</P>A spokesman for the Singapore Civil Defence Force told AFP Tuesday that they broke into Tan's locked flat and found a decomposed body, but it was only in October that DNA tests confirmed the identity of the remains.
The coroner recorded an open verdict on Tan's death, which means the exact cause could not be determined.
Most Singaporeans live in densely populated public housing estates like Tan's because of land scarcity, and an increasing number of elderly citizens live on their own due to longer life expectancy.
Tan lived on the 12th floor of a rent-controlled apartment building close to the city centre.
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