It's a gift that will remain unopened.
CityCab driver Loke Meng Fatt was found dead in his yellow Hyundai Sonata taxi yesterday afternoon at a carpark at Block 262, Serangoon Central, near Nex mall.
A plastic bag containing a box of suncakes - a Taiwanese pastry - nicely tied with a ribbon was found in Mr Loke's cab. Money was also found inside.
The police received a call at 2.05pm from a member of the public requiring assistance. When they arrived at the scene, they found a man in his mid-50s motionless in a taxi.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) received a call at 2.07pm and an ambulance was sent to the scene, but paramedics found Mr Loke dead on arrival.
The taxi, with its hazard lights on, was parked along double yellow lines against the traffic flow near the exit of the carpark, just behind a clinic at the block.
A clinic assistant, who gave her name as Elva, 25, said a man in his 30s went into the clinic at about 2pm to ask for help for the cabby.
The doctor went to the cab, but the man was already dead, she added. The box of suncakes was a gift from Mr Loke's sister, who arrived at the scene at about 3.30pm.
Looking distraught, she rushed past the police cordon towards the cab, crying out "that's my brother" a few times before bursting into tears.
The door on the driver's side was open, and MrLoke's body was covered with a white sheet.
Two police officers led Mr Loke's sister to the front of the block, where she spoke to the police in between anguished bouts of tears. She had to pause several times to compose herself.
She was overheard telling the officers that she had given her brother the gift after returning from an overseas holiday.
As she was speaking to the police, a girl in her teens went past the police cordon. She appeared stunned upon seeing the cab and burst into tears.
A group of about 10 - believed to be Mr Loke's family members - soon arrived and tried to comfort her. The police led them to the front of the block, away from the cab and a crowd of about 40 onlookers.
In the meantime, undertakers removed Mr Loke's body from the cab. He was dressed in dark pants and a light blue shirt.
'He's gone'
At around 4pm, an elderly woman arrived and joined the group of 10. A woman in a white T-shirt, who was holding the hand of a little girl, told her tearfully in Cantonese: "He's gone. We didn't even get to see him."
The group declined to be interviewed when approached.
The sister would only give her brother's name and said the gift was from her.
The New Paper understands that Mr Loke was a principal driver - the one who hires the taxi - with CityCab for three years.
Ms Tammy Tan, group corporate communications officer for ComfortDelGro Corporation, said: "We are very sorry to learn of our driver's passing and are assisting the police in their investigations."
The police have classified it as an unnatural death.