A fibre population study was conducted on the parapets (a low wall along the edge of the walkway) of ten housing estates in Singapore. For each location, the ninth and tenth storeys were investigated and a total of 1256 fibres were classified according to colour and generic fibre class. Being a cosmopolitan city with tropical rainforest climate and no true distinct season, the predominant clothing style in Singapore is one that is light, comfortable and modern. Approximately half of the fibres recovered were cotton (48.3%), with polyester fibres making up the next one-third (31.4%) and rayon fibres in the third place (16.2%). Grey/black (27.7%) and blue (24.2%) constitute the top two most popular colours, together accounting for approximately half of all classified colours. The possibility of establishing subgroups of indistinguishable fibres was investigated by microscopical and fluorescence properties. The number of groups found per location varies from 1 to 3, with each group containing between 2 and 3 fibres. The findings of this study would provide the forensic fibre examiner an overall outlook on what are the abundant (or uncommon) fibre types in Singapore context, thereby assisting the examiner to assess the strength of fibre evidence in casework.
Keywords: Evidential value; Fibres; Forensic science; Frequency; Population study; Textile fibres.
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