SINGAPORE - He was known as “Sunny Tang”, “Sheng Chun Hua” and “Ah Hua”, but the true identity of a man who died on Aug 1, 2022, still remains a mystery.
Investigations into his identity threw up a woman who had offered him a place to stay, as well as accusations of physical abuse from his former girlfriend’s son.
Yet none of them knew who he was.
Question marks surrounding his identity arose about two weeks before his death, when he fell and ended up in hospital.
“Despite exhaustive efforts by the police, the deceased’s identity remains a mystery, and it is unlikely that his identity will be established without further evidence,” said State Coroner Adam Nakhoda on Oct 23.
One of those who knew the man was a woman whom court documents refer to as Madam LMC. She lived in a first-floor unit at a Housing Board block in Toa Payoh.
She became acquainted with him at a nearby coffee shop in 2022, and he told her his name was Sunny. After he told her he had no place to go to, she allowed him to stay with her on one or two occasions.
She claimed that he was pleasant and did not have any financial issues. She understood that he worked “on and off”.
Madam LMC said she was sitting outside her unit with him at about 5pm on July 13, 2022, when he told her that he wanted to go and eat. At this point, she saw a bruise on his face and asked him what happened.
He replied that he had fallen due to his weak legs, while getting his bicycle from the nearby bay. She offered to buy him food but, after he insisted on going himself, she supported him as he walked to the coffee shop. After a few steps, he fell again.
As she was unable to lift him, Madam LMC called out to her neighbour – named as Mr Syami in court documents – who was nearby, for help.
Mr Syami saw that the left side of the man’s face was swollen, and that he had a bruise. He offered to call for an ambulance, but the man declined the offer.
After they returned to Madam LMC’s home, Mr Syami, who is trained in first aid, assessed that the man might have suffered a head injury and called for an ambulance.
The man told a Singapore Civil Defence Force paramedic that he had fallen multiple times – including once two days before.
Despite his reluctance, he was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), where he was found to have suffered several injuries, including multiple rib fractures and blood on the surface of the brain.
He was registered at the hospital based on the details of an NRIC that he had passed to Mr Syami earlier. The owner of the NRIC was given in court documents as Mr TKP.
The hospital sent a letter to a friend of Mr TKP, saying that his friend was in hospital and in a critical condition.
The friend called the real Mr TKP, who then informed TTSH that he was not in hospital.
The nurse then compared the patient’s face with the one on the NRIC and realised that they were different and alerted the police.
An officer activated to investigate the man’s identity seized multiple items from the man when he was in hospital, including a name card with the name “Sunny Tang” and a POSB debit card.
On July 17, 2022, the officer met Mr TKP and his sister, Madam TCH, at a police station.
She explained that she had met the man, whom she knew as Ah Hua, 30 years ago and started a relationship with him that lasted about 10 years.
During the relationship, he told her his name was “Sheng Chun Hua”, his parents had died and that he did odd jobs in the construction industry.
According to Madam TCH, he would often borrow money from her, claiming that he had not been paid his salary.
Initially, she gave him money, but over time his requests became more frequent. He then began to ask her son to lend him money. The son told the police that the man would beat him when he was drunk.
Madam TCH later ended her relationship with the man and last saw him in 2020.
The name “Sheng Chun Hua” also appeared to be a made-up one, said the coroner, as it did not exist in any of the databases checked by the police.
The police screened the debit card they had seized and interviewed its owner, who said he had lost the card many years ago. He said he did not know the dead man and that he had no idea why the man would have his card.
Most numbers on the dead man’s recent call log were either not in use or went unanswered when police called.
One person who did answer said he knew the man from 10 to 20 years before as “Sunny Tang” from a pub in Yio Chu Kang.
Said the coroner: “The deceased had adopted the name ‘Sunny Tang’, based on the name card found in his possession bearing that name, but in all likelihood, this was an identity that he had created after he kept Mr TKP’s NRIC. This was clearly not his name or identity.”
After the man’s death, the police released a statement with his photograph seeking information on his identity. However, there were no responses.
His fingerprints were not found in national databases in Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
