Coroner's inquiry opens into missing elderly man found dead in SingPost stairwell after 4-day search

When a 78-year-old man left his Haig Road home for a wake on Aug 27, 2021, at 8pm, it was the last time his family saw him.

The next morning, when his daughter called him on the phone, he told her he was at SingPost Centre, a mall in Paya Lebar, and said in Hokkien that "the door cannot open".

Over the next four days, his family, police officers and security guards at the mall searched for Mr Soh Eng Thong there and its surrounding areas. Flyers were also distributed to members of the public to help locate him.

The search ended when his body was found on Aug 31, 2021, in a stairwell in SingPost Centre.

On March 28, 2025, a coroner's inquiry opened into Mr Soh's death.

The cause of death was hypertensive heart disease, and the police said they do not suspect foul play.

The inquiry began with State Coroner Adam Nakhoda expressing his condolences to Mr Soh's family, who were in court.

He said a coroner's inquiry is generally not called when an individual dies from natural causes. But he noted there were some concerns raised on the circumstances leading to Mr Soh's death, and that investigations were focused on trying to address them.

The first witness called to the stand was police investigation officer (IO) Shannon Ng, who noted that Mr Soh had a history of hypertension and high blood pressure.

IO Ng said Mr Soh left his home at 8pm on Aug 27, 2021, with CCTV cameras showing that he arrived at SingPost Centre 30 minutes later.

He entered the mall via its main entrance before heading to a loading bay. There, footage captured him walking in circles for around 20 minutes before he was guided by a security guard back to the retail section of the mall.

After he left the mall at around 9.05pm, his whereabouts could not be accounted for over the next two hours, testified IO Ng.

More than two hours later at 11.20pm, Mr Soh was seen on CCTV footage returning to SingPost Centre.

He walked to the loading bay, and took a lift back to the mall's retail section. He was last seen entering the stairwell at around midnight.

The court heard that, for reasons unknown, no one searched that particular stairwell where Mr Soh's body was found.

The stairwell serves four levels: B1, B2, B3 and Level 1. IO Ng said one-way locking mechanisms were fitted into the stairwell doors at the three basement levels.

She said: "If someone entered the stairwell, they can only exit at Level 1, which leads out of the building."

She said it was the Singapore Civil Defence Force's view that the stairwell's one-way locking mechanism was a breach of the fire code, as it could hamper firefighting efforts.

When asked why the doors could only be opened one-way, the second witness, Mr Rohaizad Ishak, a former security officer at SingPost Centre, said: "Based on what I can recall, it was designed in a manner so that people could exit (the mall) and not re-enter it for fire safety (reasons)."

The inquiry continues.