56-year-old pronounced dead more than 12 hours after being spotted resting at hawker centre table

SINGAPORE – A 56-year-old man was pronounced dead more than 12 hours after he was spotted resting his head on a table at a hawker centre on Sunday.

Cleaning supervisor Liu Zhen Guang, 66, told Shin Min Daily News that he saw the man resting his head on the table in front of a drinks stall when he reported for work at North Bridge Road Market and Food Centre at 9am on Sunday.

He thought that the man was a drunken diner who had fallen asleep, and did not wake him up or think too much of it. Other stall owners Shin Min spoke to said that it is common to see people sleeping at the tables after busier periods in the afternoon.

According to Shin Min, several stall owners also said they noticed the sleeping man and that he was first spotted at the hawker centre at about 3am on Sunday.

One of them, who did not want to be named, told Shin Min he saw a bowl of noodles on the table when he arrived at the hawker centre in the morning.

It was only at about 8pm, when Mr Liu was about to wash the floors, that a diner reminded him to wake the man up.

Mr Liu shook and spoke to the man for about three minutes before realising that the man did not respond and knew something was wrong. He then quickly called for help, he told the Chinese-language daily.

Mr Liu told Shin Min that found that the man was not breathing after the emergency dispatcher told him to check on this.

“I feel a bit guilty. If I had tried to wake him earlier, maybe he could have come to and been rescued,” he said.