TWENTY minutes of shouting and furniture being thrown about was followed by a sudden dead silence at a Whampoa neighbourhood on Saturday morning.

The ambulance arrived and paramedics found a Filipino man in a 16th storey flat of Block 16 Jalan Tenteram.

The 27-year-old was found sitting on the floor, his upper torso slumped on the bed beside where he sat.

It was a dead-on-arrival case as the man had no pulse and was not breathing.

The police were next on the scene and declared the case a murder - the second of the year.

There was no blood around the body and police would not say what kind of injuries the man sustained, save that they were to his upper body. It is understood he had bruises on his neck.

Police also did not find any murder weapon in the flat, nor have they arrested anyone at press time.

The man, Filojfido Bernard Montemayor, who was unemployed, was topless and wore only a pair of shorts. He is believed to be here on a social visit pass.

Neighbours said he lived there with another man and two women, all Filipinos in their 20s.

The two women are said to be nurses at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital but it is not known what the other male tenant does.

The four had moved in about three months ago, renting the five-room flat from a Singaporean couple.

Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.