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A Singaporean woman was on her way home on Mar. 20 when she suddenly had the horrifying realisation that she was missing one of her bags, which contained sensitive financial information such as her credit card information.

Thankfully, she was reunited with her bag within half a day, after it was found by attentive MRT staff.

Realised she was missing one bag

The woman, Szuen Wong, told Mothership that on Mar. 20 around 10:40pm, she had alighted at Kovan MRT to head home.

After boarding the bus to head home at the station, she suddenly realised that one of her two bags was gone.

For about five minutes, she worriedly tried to calculate what her losses would be if her bag was really gone forever, as it contained some documents containing her credit card details.

After that, Wong calmed herself down. She mentally backtracked through her whole journey, which led her to suspect that there was a high possibility that she may have left her bag on the North East Line train.

She then tried to call the lost and found hotline but it was closed, so she immediately took a taxi back to Kovan MRT station.

Assisted by MRT staff

At the MRT control station, a staff member assisted Wong in filling out a form to report her loss.

He also helped her to immediately check with the staff of other MRT stations on whether they had any lost items turned in to them.

Around 11:30pm, after Wong had filled out the form, the staff member said that he would be emailing the loss appeal to the other MRT stations.

The next morning around 8am, Wong received a call from someone she referred to as "Mr. Chua", a staff member at Harbourfront MRT station.

Chua verified Wong identity and asked her to describe the bag in order to ensure that it was indeed hers.

He informed her that her lost bag had been found when the station staff were checking the train at around midnight before closing for the night.

Gratitude toward staff and fellow commuters

Wong emphasised her gratitude to Mr. Chua and the rest of his team at Harbourfront MRT station, as well as the two staff members who had helped her at Kovan MRT station:

"The MRT staff [were] so efficient. I was so comforted and very grateful the MRT staff really attended to my loss appeal immediately."

She also expressed her gratitude to her fellow commuters for the "honesty and integrity" they showed by not taking her bag home with them.

Wong reiterated her desire to highlight the work of the MRT staff which often goes unseen:

"The last point to share is often we forgot the many good deeds MRT staff who went extra mile to do for the public. I believe they did quite a lot of these but it went unnoticed in the hustle bustle of life."

Mr. Chua and other staff recognised by SBS Transit

Mr. Chua — whose full name is Chua Chuan Hock — will be recognised by SBS Transit alongside his colleagues Azrin bin Ismaon and Lum Sum Foo for their assistance.

Grace Wu, Vice President (Special Grade) of Corporate Communications at SBS Transit, told Mothership that Chua and Azrin, who are Assistant Station Managers, and Lum, a Station Manager, will be recognised for "delivering service with a heart which is what our SBS Transit CARES values are all about."

"We are happy to know that our staff had been of great help in retrieving the bag that Ms Szuen had accidentally left behind on a train. With teamwork and good coordination, they responded swiftly to her needs."

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Top photo courtesy of Szuen Wong.