After finding a wallet containing an NRIC card at a bus stop in Woodlands, an SMRT bus captain went the extra mile to ensure its owner got it back in a timely manner.

During his off-work hours, Malaysian bus captain Surish Kumar — who has been driving buses in Singapore for 11 years — left a note at the address listed on the NRIC to confirm that the owner lived there.

And once the grateful owner responded, he returned the same day to personally deliver the wallet.

The Good Samaritan also refused to accept a reward, saying that he had helped out of the kindness of his heart.

Wallet went missing during journey

Speaking to Mothership, the owner, Iffah, explained that she had lost her wallet on Sep. 11, while on her way to Arab Street to buy books.

The 20-year old woman had got on bus 966 from Block 402 Woodlands Avenue 3, heading towards Eunos.

However, when she reached her destination, she realised that her wallet had gone missing.

It contained her NRIC, credit cards, workplace and house keys, as well as about S$10 in cash.

Thinking she had left the wallet on the bus, Iffah immediately notified SMRT.

She also checked if it was at the bus interchange, and asked her brother to search the bus stop she had boarded from.

However, it was nowhere to be found.

Received a note

It was a stressful few days as the wallet remained missing, according to a Facebook post by Iffah's mother.

However, the family was relieved to find a handwritten note left at their door about two to three days after the wallet went missing.

"Pls call or WhatsApp XXX," it wrote. "Found your wallet at bus stop Blk 402".

When Iffah replied to Surish, he introduced himself as an SMRT bus captain who had found the wallet. He also said that he stays in Johor Bahru.

Due to his busy schedule, he was only able to drop a note a few days later at the address listed on the NRIC, to confirm that the wallet's owner was living there.

The same day he received her reply, Surish headed back a second time after his shift at Kranji depot, to return the wallet.

According to Iffah's family, its contents had not been tampered with at all.

Bus captain refused to accept reward

The grateful Iffah offered to reward the bus captain for his generosity after he dropped the wallet off.

However, Surish refused to accept it.

"Kakak (sister) I just help from my heart kindness," he wrote in reply.

He added that his own wife had recently lost her handbag, which contained "important" items, which still could not be found.

"I help kakak not for money," he concluded.

The 38-year-old father of two, who lives in Skudai in Johor, also told Berita Harian that he had found the wallet near the Block 402 Woodlands Avenue 3 bus stop when he was about to change shifts.

He said he wanted to deliver it personally to the address listed in the NRIC as he felt "sorry" for the owner.

"It takes time if you want to hand it over to the police station or the counter," he added.

'Thankful to find someone so kind': Owner

Iffah told Mothership that she is very thankful for Surish's act of kindness.

"He lives in Malaysia, is a bus captain who is very busy with his work... but he still ended up still making time to send it to my doorstep," she said.

"It's just amazing how kind he is."

Top image courtesy of Iffah.