The Electric New Paper :
Man found dead at National stadium carpark
Traces of vomit nearby. His car was there for at least 10 hours, say witnesses
By Crystal Chan, 30 June 2007
THE National Stadium, a landmark once alive with active bodies and healthy activities, is now a silent shell.
Yesterday, two days before its last hurrah, it was the scene of death.
The body of a man was found in the carpark of the soon-to-be demolished stadium.
The man was found slumped in the driver's seat of a Toyota Altis.
When The New Paper arrived at 6pm, the body was still in the car. This was 10 hours after the car was first spotted at the carpark by a Bangladeshi worker.
The dead man appeared to be Chinese, with a tanned complexion. He was dressed in a yellow T-shirt and black bermudas.
Except for the police and some curious construction workers, the carpark was deserted.
The grisly find came just two days before the 34-year-old stadium's closing ceremony tomorrow.
Puddles of vomit were splattered on the parking lot next to Lot 603, where the car was parked.
At 6.15pm, a black Lexus drove up to the area that had been cordoned off. Both the Lexus and the Toyota bore the same licence plate number: 2222.
A middle-aged couple and a young woman got out of the car hurriedly, and dashed to the corpse.
The older woman's wails punctuated the silence, and she leaned on the younger woman for support.
Except for the word 'stupid', what the older woman was saying could not be made out.
Unable to stand up straight, she leaned against her car and stared at the undertakers who prepared to take the body away.
Her two companions were composed as they spoke to police officers.
But the older woman could not contain her grief and ran back to the Toyota to hug the corpse.
She refused to let go of the dead man and had to be led away by the younger woman.
The three then drove off, while the body was taken to the mortuary for a post-mortem.
A Bangladeshi construction worker, who declined to be named, said the Toyota had been parked there since 8am yesterday.
He said: 'We thought the man was sleeping so we didn't do anything at first.
'But when we saw that the man was still in the car at 2pm, we alerted our supervisor.'
Another onlooker, who said his job was to transport workers to the Nicoll Highway Circle Line work site, said he had seen the Toyota in the area previously.
'I remember the car because the licence plate number, 2222, is unique,' said the man, who also declined to be named.
Police said they received a call at 3.30pm, about a man sitting motionless in a car.
Police spokesman Lim Tung Li said: 'Upon arrival, police saw the man, who is in his mid-20s, sitting in the driver's seat.'
Assistant Superintendent Lim said the man, who was alone, was pronounced dead by civil defence officers at 3.45pm.
Police are investigating the case as an unnatural death.
The National Stadium was a popular venue for events like the Malaysia Cup, the National Day Parade and pop concerts. The New Paper Big Walk, an annual event drawing thousands, was also held there for 16 years.
The stadium will be demolished to make way for a new Sports Hub.
The hub - a complex that will comprise a new 55,000-seater stadium, a 6,000-seat indoor aquatic centre and a 3,000-seat multi-purpose arena - is set to be ready by mid-2011.
