Man, 78, found dead in SingPost Centre, likely confused, no foul play suspected: Coroner

A 78-year-old man, who was found dead in SingPost Centre in August 2021, could have ended up there in a confused state, according to State Coroner Adam Nakhoda.

A coroner's inquiry was opened on Mar. 28, 2025 to look into Soh Eng Thong's death.

Findings from the inquiry were delivered on Aug. 6, The Straits Times reported.

Said he was going to a wake

On Aug. 27, 2021, Soh left his Haig Road home and went out on his own, telling his family he was going to a wake, and never returned.

After five days and a long search involving the authorities and the public, Soh's body was discovered motionless in a stairwell of a basement car park in SingPost Centre in Paya Lebar.

The court heard in March 2025 that a cleaner had found his body after noticing a foul smell coming from the stairwell, ST reported.

The police said they did not suspect foul play, and the cause of death was determined to be hypertensive heart disease.

Soh had a history of hypertension and high blood pressure.

However, a coroner's inquiry was called due to some concerns raised regarding the circumstances leading to the man's death.

The coroner's findings

The state coroner agreed with the police that there was no foul play involved, according to ST.

Soh's daughter had previously said her father did not have dementia, and the coroner's inquiry did not turn up any medical evidence that suggests cognitive decline.

However, while the coroner acknowledged these points, he said that surveillance footage of Soh's final moments suggested he was confused.

Soh had also told his son over the phone at about 1am on Aug. 28, 2021, that he was still at the supposed wake, but there was no such wake happening then, ST reported.

Left home at 8pm

Based on the footage the police had seen, an officer told the court in March that Soh had arrived at SingPost Centre at around 8:30pm on Aug. 27.

He had left home at about 8pm.

He initially walked in circles for around 20 minutes at a loading bay.

Two hours unaccounted for

He left the mall at around 9:05pm, but his whereabouts could not be accounted for in the next two hours.

Went back into mall

At 11:20pm, Soh was seen back at SingPost Centre.

He walked to the loading bay and took a lift and went back into the mall.

He was last seen going into the car park stairwell at around midnight, prompting the coroner to believe Soh would have been there during the phone call with his son, rather than at a wake.

What court heard

The court heard that no one searched that particular stairwell that served B1, B2, B3 and level one, but the reasons were not known.

On Soh having hypertensive heart disease, the coroner said the evidence from Soh's past visits to the hospital and polyclinic suggested "he may not have been fully compliant with his medication", as quoted by ST.

A post-mortem CT scan also showed that Soh developed an enlarged heart, which the coroner said could happen if a condition of hypertension and high blood pressure was not managed well.

He added that there were no external or internal injuries, and no evidence of any traumatic injuries that could have caused Soh's death.

Stairwell door could not be opened

When Soh's daughter called him in the morning of Aug. 28, Soh said he was at SingPost Centre and that "the door cannot open", ST reported.

Following Soh's death, an audit by the Singapore Civil Defence Force revealed that the stairwell Soh went into had one-way locks.

"If someone entered the stairwell, they can exit only at level one, which leads out of the building," a police investigations officer was quoted by ST as saying in court in March.

Such a locking mechanism violates the SCDF's fire code as it could hamper firefighting efforts.

An SCDF investigator testified on the stand that one-way locking mechanisms are not allowed for the doors of stairwells located next to fire lift lobbies.

The stairwell where Soh was found in is situated beside a fire lift lobby.

The building's architect Foo Chai Yee testified in court that he did not know about the mechanism until this SCDF audit.

It was not stated in any document or architectural drawing signed off by him, he claimed.

A project manager called to the stand said he had received instructions to change the locks of the stairwell doors from a two-way to a one-way system.

The building had also passed an SCDF inspection, he added.

It was not mentioned when the locking mechanism was changed.

A former SingPost Centre security officer questioned by the court about this issue said the door locks were fitted that way so that people could exit the mall and not re-enter it, for fire safety reasons, ST reported.

The coroner emphasised that the inquiry was not to find fault with the parties involved, but to give his findings into the circumstances surrounding the death.

Top images from Ah Joy/Facebook and CapitaLand