There were no signs of injury, said police. But they have classified the case as murder.

The man, said by neighbours to be a transvestite, was found dead at a unit on the ninth storey of Block 508 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.

Police spokesman ASP Lim Tung Li said they are investigating the murder of a Malay man.

They had responded to a call at about 6.15pm yesterday.

ASP Lim said: 'The body of a man was found lying on the floor in the bedroom of the unit, with no visible injuries.

'He was clad in undergarments. The man was pronounced dead at the scene at 6.30pm.'

It is believed that there were no signs of disturbance in the flat.

Miss Nora, a student, who lives with her family on the same floor, described the owner of the flat as an Ah Guah (Hokkien slang for effeminate man).

She said: 'Another man, who is also an Ah Guah, lives with him.

'There is also a Malay woman who shares the flat with them.'

She added that the Malay woman was usually seen decked in gold accessories.

At first she and her family members had thought it was the woman who wasmurdered.

Miss Nora pointed to a woman wearing a tudung at the scene. She said: 'She's the Malay woman's relative.

'She had come to check out what happened after the woman's god-daughter told her that she had not heard from her for two days.'

It is likely that she had discovered the body and called the police.

It is believed that the woman who shares the flat is working as a cleaner at a prata shop in Jalan Kayu, while one of the men is a cleaner at Bishan Junction 8.

It is not known if the victim is the owner of the flat.

Speculation was rife at the scene, with some residents initially thinking that the victim was a woman.

A neighbour, who only wanted to be known as Aunty Mei, said she last saw the woman some days ago.

The neighbour, 50, said: 'As always, we just chatted in general and it didn't seem that anything was amiss.'

But she said the neighbours were usually 'amused' by the Malay woman's flat-mates.

Aunty Mei added: 'You know lah, we're always wondering how they were related.

'They really seemed like quite an odd combination.'

A neighbour, Madam Ros, 40, told The New Paper on Sunday: '(The incident) was unusual because this place is rather quiet.'

Added the housewife, who lives in a unit on the third storey: 'Before the police came, there were no signs that something was wrong.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on June 22, 2008.