SINGAPORE - A couple were charged in court on Wednesday with the murder of a woman at a Woodlands flat on Monday morning.

Pua Hak Chuan, 35, and Tan Hui Zhen, 31, allegedly caused the death of Ms Annie Ee Yu Lian, 26, a waitress, at their third-floor unit of Block 878 Woodlands Avenue 9 at 9.38am on Monday.

The couple were calm when the charge was read to them in Mandarin.

They were remanded at Central police division lock-up with permission to take them out for investigation.

Ms Ee, who was working in a Japanese restaurant at Causeway Point, addressed Tan as "big sister" and was not related to the couple.

Paramedics found her lying on a mattress in a bedroom of the flat.

The couple will return to court next Wednesday.