A 63-year-old elderly woman, Mdm Hong Jinzhu, who worked as a cleaner, passed away alone at her Hougang flat, and her body was only found after she failed to show up for work for 3 days and a colleague went to check in on her.
She was found foaming at the mouth and lying motionless on the ground when her co-worker found her, according to Shin Min Daily News.
The deceased’s body was discovered on 2 September at about 11.46am, inside her flat on the 3rd storey of Block 2 Hougang Avenue 3.
She worked as a cleaner at a coffeeshop at Block 327 Hougang Avenue 5, and reportedly lived alone in her Hougang flat.
Previously had asthma attack but didn’t take leave
Her coworker who discovered her body, 68-year-old Mr Wang, spoke to SMDN and said that Hong had previously suffered an asthma attack but didn’t take MC, which happened about 7 days before her body was found.
That day, her supervisor found out about her condition and made her take leave to rest at home, and she was supposed to return to work 3 days ago but didn’t show up.
She was known to be very responsible and wouldn’t skip work without reason, and her colleagues were puzzled as to why she didn’t turn up for work.
She also wasn’t answering her phone calls and Wang was then asked by the supervisor to visit Hong at her home.
When he arrived outside her flat, he saw that her lights were still on, and despite knocking on her door for 10 minutes, there was no answer.
He then peeked inside the flat through a half-open window and saw her lying motionless on the ground beside the sofa and foaming at the mouth.
Wang then hurriedly alerted the police.
Homicide ruled out
The Singapore Police Force confirmed that they had received a report on a case of unnatural death on 2 September, and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The authorities also found letters and medicine next to her body.
Police investigations are currently ongoing, and they have also ruled out homicide as the cause of her death.
Colleagues donated to her funeral
The elderly woman was known by her neighbours to be friendly to small children, and she was seen in the lift on 1 September at about 3pm and didn’t look unwell.
Hong’ supervisor, 62-year-old Mdm Chen, said that she has known Hong for about 40 years and had introduced her to the cleaning job at the coffeeshop.
Chen didn’t know how to contact Hong’s relatives, and will be handling her funeral arrangements with colleagues who also donated towards her funeral expenses despite her being in the job for only half a year.