SINGAPORE - A woman who lived to 105 climbed seven floors and ate garlic daily, her family said after the centenarian died on Monday (Feb 6).

Madam Chen Zhen was an independent woman, her third son Ye Jinxi, a 70-year-old factory worker, told Lianhe Wanbao in a report on Thursday (Feb 9).

He said the mother of seven would do the laundry, bathe herself and climb seven floors at her flat in Ang Mo Kio before she turned 103.

Mr Ye told Shin Min Daily News in a report on Thursday (Feb 9) that his mother had moved to a third-floor unit in Ang Mo Kio more than 30 years ago.

She would climb seven floors daily to the 10th floor, where her eldest son lived, as she did not dare to take the lift.

Mr Ye told Wanbao that a doctor had said his mother was very healthy without any common old-age ailments in a health check-up two years ago.

Madam Chen had grown weak after a fall at home a year and a half ago, and was wheelchair-bound.

Her condition took a turn for the worse on Jan 31, when she began having breathing difficulties.

She was taken to hospital, where she was in a coma for a week and died in Tan Tock Seng Hospital at 2am on Monday, Shin Min reported.

Madam Chen, who was a kind and jovial woman, loved eating garlic and would eat cloves of it cooked or raw, which could have contributed to her good health, said Mr Ye.