Mum of 2 dies in Yishun knife attack after years-long noise dispute with neighbour
Nadine Chua, David Sun and Zaihan Mohamed Yusof
The Straits Times
September 24, 2025
A woman has died following a violent attack over a noise dispute between neighbours in Yishun on the morning of Sept 24.
She and her husband were among the three taken to hospital. The couple had serious injuries.
The third person taken to hospital was the alleged attacker, who has been arrested for murder.
A police spokesman said preliminary investigations found the fight arose from a noise dispute.
The assailant, a 67-year-old man, had allegedly used a knife to injure the couple.
The woman, a 31-year-old Vietnamese, was taken unconscious to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH), where she died.
Her 33-year-old husband and the alleged assailant were both conscious when they were taken to KTPH.
The police spokesman said the alleged assailant was arrested for murder and investigations are ongoing.
A spokesman for the Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received a call for help at Block 323 Yishun Central at about 7.25am on Sept 24.
They took the three people to KTPH.
When ST arrived at the scene at around 8.50am, there were eight police cars at Block 323, and drops of blood on the ground floor, near the lift.
On the sixth floor, there were bloodstains at the lift lobby.
A knife, a watch, a mobile phone, a set of car keys and a slipper lay on the bloodstained floor.
The entire sixth level was cordoned off, with at least eight police officers present.
Bloodstains were also spotted inside the lifts.
A resident who wanted to be known only as Mr Koh, 69, said there was a dispute between a man and a couple who were neighbours.
He said: "At around 7am, I heard screams and a commotion, so I went to level six to see what happened. That's when I saw a woman lying unconscious near the lift. She had wounds all over her body and was completely drenched in blood."
Mr Koh, a business owner, added: "Her husband was trying to fight off a man who was holding a knife. At the same time, the husband was yelling 'Anyone knows CPR? Please help my wife!' Then I saw the husband get stabbed in his chest area."
He added that as the husband scuffled with the alleged assailant near the lift, one of the neighbours quickly pulled the couple's young sons into their flat and closed the door.
He said: "The husband tried to fight the man off. But the man grabbed the husband from the back and stabbed him in the chest area. Then another resident tried to split them up by taking the knife from the man and kicking it away.
"The husband was still conscious when the police came, but his wife's eyes were closed."
A resident who lives near Block 322 and who did not want to be identified told ST a woman had rushed to his block to take the defibrillator placed there.
He said: "I saw a woman in a panic, running from Block 323 to get the CPR machine. She said someone needed help."
Photos of the incident showed several people tending to a woman at the corridor while a man covered in blood sat on the ground nearby.
Another photo showed a police officer speaking to a bald man sitting on the ground farther away with blood smeared over his legs.
The children are believed to be about two and five years old.
A resident on the ninth floor of Block 323 who wanted to be known only as Mr Ismail, 65, said the dispute appeared to be over the couple's young children making noises.
He said: "The dispute between the couple and the man had been going on for years now. The couple usually keep to themselves, but I think the man was not happy with their children playing and making noise."
Mr Ismail, who is retired and moved to Yishun two years ago, added: "I often see the mother taking her children to childcare in the morning. This estate is usually quite peaceful, so it's a shock to us that something like this happened."
A resident on the third floor, Mr Othman Omar, 64, said the alleged assailant liked to talk about his plants, and had just visited him over the weekend to chat.
He said: "I know the man as a person who cared for neighbours. He sent me dates during Ramadan and even gave my family essential oils after his visit to Saudi Arabia.
"I think most of the neighbours here are shocked at this morning's tragic incident."
Residents who spoke to ST said the couple have lived in the estate for around two years, while the alleged attacker has been living there for longer.
Physical crime has been on the rise with 75 knife-related incidents reported in the first half of 2025.
This is compared to 59 cases for the same period in 2024 and 131 cases for the whole of that year.
There were a total of 10,341 physical crime cases reported from January to June in 2025, compared to 9,809 such cases in the same period in 2024.
New laws were introduced in 2024 to tackle disputes between neighbours.
The Community Disputes Resolution Act was amended for a new Community Relations Unit to be established, where officers will be given investigatory and enforcement powers to intervene in neighbour disputes; and the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals will also get enhanced powers to resolve cases brought before it more quickly and effectively.
A majority of disputes between neighbours are noise-related, with government agencies receiving an average of around 2,500 complaints every month.
