Former morgue worker dies just months after retiring

In 1969, 20-year-old Balakrishnan P Nagan applied to work in the laboratory with renowned forensic pathologist Professor Chao Tzee Cheng.

Instead, he ended up working as a mortuary attendant at the Ministry of Health's pathology department as there was no vacancy at the lab.

And he never left the job since, according to Singapore Public Service publication Challenge, climbing his way to the role of a supervisor leading a team of forensic technicians.

On May 25, Balakrishnan died of stomach cancer. He was 73.

Saravanan, 47, remembers his father as a "kind person".

When Hotel New World collapsed in 1986, Balakrishnan crawled into a dim, tight space to remove the decomposing bodies so that a survivor would not be traumatised by the sight when she was rescued. That act of courage won him a Public Service Medal.

"My father would go to work before 6am and was always the first one to arrive at the morgue," Saravanan told Lianhe Zaobao, adding that his father retired only in February this year, after he was diagnosed with advanced-stage stomach cancer.

The hearse carrying Balakrishnan's body made a detour to the hospital's mortuary en route to the crematorium on May 26.

Former colleagues came out to pay their respects when the hearse stopped outside the mortuary for 10 minutes before continuing its journey.

Balakrishnan is survived by his wife, two sons and their wives, and six grandchildren.

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This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.