Singaporean man dies alone in rented room, friends searching for his next of kin

Whether there's a pandemic or not, it is considered a blessing to have loved ones by our side to enjoy the good, as well as weather through tough times together.

Some might not be as fortunate, like David Lim who recently died at his rented room alone.

A family friend who had passed on

Referring to the deceased as ‘Uncle David’, Alvin Ng recounted in a Facebook post (Aug 15) that Lim was a close friend to his family. 

Although Ng and Lim are not related by blood, Ng shared that his Uncle David had taken care of him for around 20 years, since he was just a young boy.

Now that his uncle has passed on, Ng wants to return the favour. 

“For this final part of your journey, let me take care of you properly and send you on your way..,” Ng wrote in remembrance of his uncle.

“It’s never enough to repay or make it up to all the kindness and dotings you have shown and given to me for the past 20 odd years..”

He added: “If we believe in reincarnation, let me be the senior one to take care of you in the next life for 20 odd years. [sic]”

Appeal to locate next of kin or relatives

According to reports, Ng and his family plan to arrange a simple wake for Uncle David and cremate his body after retrieving it from the morgue. They also intend to scatter his ashes into the sea afterwards.

However, not all is said to be confirmed.

According to Ng’s post, the family currently faces the challenge of retrieving Uncle David’s body from the morgue. He wrote that the police will not release his uncle’s body until they exhaust all means to locate his next of kin or relatives.

Noting that his uncle had no next of kin or relatives by his side as they had lost contact for a long time ago, locating them appears to be an uphill task. 

As such, Ng is urgently appealing for the public’s help to share his post, and that by doing so it will hopefully reach a next of kin or relative of his uncle. 

He said that he would appreciate that his uncle’s next of kin or relative would get in touch with him even if they “are not inclined to be involved” in the final send-off.

Ng added that those who know of his uncle or any information can send him a personal message through Facebook.

This article was first published in theAsianparent.