‘I just did my part’: S’pore bus interchange supervisor helps elderly man, 86, find wallet with over S$3,000 cash, receives award

On Dec. 6, 2025, an elderly man approached the passenger service counter at Clementi Bus Interchange.

The man, 86, was visibly panicked. He'd left his wallet on the bus, containing more than S$3,000 in cash — his hard-earned savings — along with bank cards and identification documents.

"I knew he was very worried about it lah. So I thought, I must try my best to help him find his wallet," said Lim Poh Boon, who works as a senior assistant interchange supervisor for SBS Transit.

He traced the man's concession card records and worked with bus captains to search through the different buses until the wallet was found.

On Oct. 28, he was recognised with an Outstanding Award at the Transport Gold Awards for his dedication and service.

Piecing together the journey

Speaking to Mothership, the 54-year-old shared that he had once lost his own wallet on a bus, and knew just how worrying such an experience could be.

He was determined to do what he could to help the passenger recover his belongings.

But when he spoke to the old man, the passenger said he could not remember where he had alighted.

After checking his concession card records, Lim was able to narrow the search down to Service 165.

He then had to figure out exactly which bus the elderly man had boarded.

As the buses pulled into the interchange, Lim approached the bus captains and personally searched the vehicles, checking the seats and aisles for any sign of the missing wallet.

The first few searches turned up nothing.

But after going through a few more buses, their persistence paid off.

A bus captain spotted the wallet tucked beneath a rear seat. The cash, bank cards and identification documents were all intact.

A relieved commuter

When the wallet was returned, the elderly man was overjoyed.

"He was very happy, and kept saying thank you to me," Lim recalled. "Of course, I felt happy and relieved... I know he was very panicked during that moment."

He even offered to treat them to a meal as a gesture of appreciation. But Lim politely turned down the offer.

"I think don't need," he said. “I just did my part."

"I think everyone faces different challenges in their daily lives. A small act of kindness can make a big difference to someone."

From bus fan to bus captain

Helping commuters like the elderly man has been part of Lim's working life for more than a decade.

But even as a child, he "used to be a bus fan", Lim confessed.

"When I was young that time... I used to take a chair, then [sit on] the bed, then pretend I'm driving a bus," he shared.

"Then I'd take a cane, put beside the bed as a gear. And whenever I took the bus I would sit on top, in the first seat. Just pretend I'm a bus driver."

Years later, that childhood fascination would become his profession.

In 2010, Lim — who worked as a florist at the time — decided to make the switch to getting behind the wheel of a bus.

He spent four years as a bus captain before moving into an interchange supervisory role in 2014.

While he misses driving, he said he prefers his current role, where he gets to interact with more people.

"[With] regular commuters, sometimes we make friends with them. Some travel [through here] for many years, from secondary school until university," he told Mothership.