The Southeast Asian shrew has dark fur with a dull silvery sheen and a slender tail. In Singapore, NParks records it only from the Central Nature Reserves.
It is smaller than the house shrew, with dark gray to blackish fur that has a dull silvery gloss and a thin tail.
It feeds mainly on insects. NParks describes the animal as difficult to observe in nature; individuals encountered so far were caught in pitfall traps.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.