What was meant to be a relaxing weekend trip to Taman Mount Austin in Johor Bahru turned sour for a Singaporean man after his bag was snatched by thieves on Sep. 16.

The 55-year-old victim, Anthony Chea, lost his passport, along with his phone, and cash amounting to S$342.

He spent the rest of the trip dealing with the aftermath of the incident, including applying for documents so he could return to Singapore.

The incident

Chea's friend, Lisa Hairanee Bidin, told Mothership that the theft happened outside the 1 Million Hotel @ Austin Heights, where they were staying.

It was their first trip to the area, notably a popular destination for Singaporean tourists.

They had been walking back to their accommodation after getting breakfast nearby when the thieves struck.

CCTV footage which Lisa subsequently shared on TikTok showed that the theft took place at about 7:55am.

In the video, Lisa and Chea were walking along the side of the road beside a row of parked cars.

While the two chatted, a rider in a red shirt accompanied by a pillion passenger approached them from behind.

As the rider drove past, he steered closer to them and the passenger snatched away Chea's bag in a swift movement.

After the theft, Lisa and Chea were stunned for a moment before giving chase, but to no avail.

In another video she shared, the thieves managed to round the corner and slip away from the pursuing pair.

"It was traumatic," Lisa wrote in the comments of the TikTok video.

She wrote that the thieves seemed to be in their 20s or 30s.

She added that Chea had even cross-slung his bag, purportedly for safety purposes, prior to the theft.

Trip ruined

The pair subsequently reported the incident to the Malaysian police, but have purportedly yet to receive an update from them on the matter.

It also affected the rest of their trip.

Chea had to call his banks to freeze his credit cards and block digital banking access from his phone.

As his passport was stolen, he also had to visit the Singapore embassy in Johor and the Malaysian customs to get documents permitting him to leave the country and re-enter Singapore.

This took several hours.

Lisa claimed that Malaysian staff had initially told them the documents could not be prepared on the same day, but expedited the process upon hearing that Chea had a heart condition.

The whole experience has left them shaken.

"We are not planning any trips to JB for as long as we can," Lisa shared.

Mothership has reached out to the Johor police department for comment.

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Top image from hairaneebidin on TikTok.