By Maureen Koh

AS SHE lay on the cold ceramic tiles in the one-room HDB flat, the woman began to worry.

Where was her brother?

Paralysed by a stroke about nine years ago, she had depended on the younger man for all her daily needs. For two days, however, no one tended to her - until late Saturday morning.

That was after the woman,believed to be in her early 70s and whose name is not known, pleaded in Cantonese: "Please, someone give me food. I'm hungry. Please."

It was only then that neighbours discovered her brother's body in the eighth-storey unit at Block 10, North Bridge Road off Beach Road.

Unknown to the woman, the body of her only caregiver, Mr Cheng Wei Pak, 56, was just a few feet behind her.

It is believed that he had been dead for about two days. The cause of his death is unknown, though he is believed to have been suffering from throat cancer for about three years.

Mr Hong Ah Hong, 83, who lives in the opposite unit, had hobbled out to check on the woman after he heard her cries.

HELPLESS: Paralysed by a stroke about nine years ago, the woman had depended on her brother for all her daily needs.

Speaking in Cantonese, he told The New Paper: "It was odd to hear the woman calling for help and so I went over to see what happened."

Mr Hong found the old woman, who is also believed to be suffering from senile dementia, lying near the half-opened door.

He said: "She asked me to call out for her brother, adding that she did not know where he had gone.

"She kept muttering that he'd never left her at home for so long."

Just as Mr Hong turned away to call out to another neighbour a few units away, he thought he saw something looking like a pair of feet.

While he waited for the other neighbour to walk over, he pushed the door open.

Mr Hong said: "I was shocked to see Mr Cheng lying on the floor just outside the toilet."

Both he and the woman neighbour - who declined to be named - kept calling out to the man but there was no response.

They realised that Mr Cheng could be dead only when the foul smell hit them. They called the police.