SBS Transit staff help tourist recover bag containing S$2,000 cash & S$30,000 worth of gold left on bus

A tourist's last day in Singapore nearly turned into a nightmare after she accidentally left her bag on a bus.

Thankfully for her, two SBS Transit staff went out of their way to help her recover it, even paying for her taxi ride out of their own pocket.

According to a Facebook post by SBS Transit, Mrs K had alighted at a bus stop and realised her bag was still on Service 853.

The bag contained her passport, S$2,000 in cash and S$30,000 worth of gold jewellery intended for her daughter's upcoming wedding in Kuala Lumpur.

She approached the team at Ang Mo Kio interchange in tears, hoping they could help.

Staff from a different operator stepped in anyway

According to SBS Transit, Service 853 is not operated by the company, but Senior Assistant Interchange Supervisor Nithyananthan Palne, known as Nathan, did not let that stop him.

He contacted Tower Transit Singapore to trace the missing bag, and within 20 minutes, Tower Transit called back to confirm that a fellow passenger had found it and handed it over.

Mrs K, however, had no money to get to the other interchange to retrieve her belongings.

Senior Interchange Supervisor Alex Tan decided to book and pay for a taxi to Yishun interchange for Mrs K, out of his own pocket.

"My family was very proud of me"

Mrs K was reunited with her bag, with all her belongings intact.

Two days later, she and her daughter called to thank the officers.

Nathan recalled: "Both Mrs K and her daughter called to thank us and even extended an invitation to the wedding in Kuala Lumpur."

A week later, Mrs K returned to Ang Mo Kio Interchange in person to thank Nathan and Tan and to reimburse Tan for the taxi fare he had paid for her.

Tan told SBS Transit: "We were just happy that she got her bag back. My family was very proud of me. When I told my daughter about it, she wanted to learn from this and help others."

Mrs K writes in to commend the staff

Mrs K also wrote a thank-you letter to SBS Transit, praising Nathan and Tan for their professionalism and generosity.

Speaking about Nathan, she said in the letter: "His dedication, patience, and unwavering commitment to helping me, despite the matter not being under your company's responsibility, were truly commendable."

Talking about the two SBS officers, she added: "Their kindness, teamwork and willingness to go above and beyond their duties made an incredibly stressful situation much easier to bear."