Baey Yam Keng loses wallet in France while on Christmas holiday, stranger finds & returns it

Baey Yam Keng had a Christmas miracle after losing his wallet in Honfleur, Normandy, France, only to have it returned by a kind stranger who went out of her way to find him.

The Minister of State for Transport, and Culture, Community and Youth, shared his heartwarming travel anecdote in a Facebook post on Dec. 25.

Baey who is also Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC, stated that the incident happened a few days before Christmas, as he was travelling in France with his family.

He was paying at a parking meter when he dropped his wallet.

Without realising that the wallet was no longer with him, Baey and his family walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

Magic of Christmas

Whilst waiting for their food, a Caucasian woman walked into the restaurant and made a beeline for their table.

She asked if Baey was from Singapore and if he was working in the ministry.

"She doesn’t look like she is from Singapore so I thought she might have lived here and somehow recognised me."

During their conversation, Baey found out that the woman, Gabriella had "lived in Singapore some ten years ago".

She had picked up Baey's wallet and saw his name cards, handing it over to a nearby police station.

Gabriella had even decided to look around the carpark for the wallet's owner.

Baey speculated that Gabriella must have spotted his family dining in the restaurant.

"She must have peeped through the restaurant windows and saw my Singaporean-looking family at the table and tried her luck."

Police station had closed for the day

Gabriella offered to walk Baey to the police station to retrieve his wallet but the station had closed for the day.

However, the policeman, Maxence, opened the door for them.

Maxence stated that he had called Baey's phone number and contacted him on Facebook Messenger.

"He said he even called the number on my name card and left a message (it was past midnight in Singapore then). Subsequently, I saw that he had also tried to contact me via Messenger."

Baey ended his Facebook post with his thanks to Gabriella and Maxence for their kindness that left a deep impression and made his trip to France so special.

Top photo from Baey Yam Keng/Facebook.