Netizen shares experiences of losing bag on X
On Sunday (18 Oct), Garuda Singadilaga, also known as @DroshStudios, uploaded an X post alleging the police did not act after his bag was stolen at Singapore Zoo.
The 18-year-old was watching a show with his family in KidzWorld when they discovered the bag was missing.
Source: Courtesy of Garuda Singadilaga
His father accidentally left the bag behind at a bench near the playground, as pictured above. It was unattended for at least 10 minutes.
The bag contained US$1,800 and S$300 in cash, along with five passports belonging to the entire family.
After he filed a report with the Woodlands Police Divisional Investigation Branch, he was notified that the police “will not be taking any further action”.
Singadilaga posted the screenshot on X and tagged the Singapore Police Force (SPF) demanding accountability.
Source: X
Tourist visits two SPF branches personally to no avail
Singadilaga stated that after discovering the bag was missing, he immediately reported it to the zookeepers.
The cleaners could not provide further information. The bag was also not in the lost and found area. This led him and the zoo staff to suspect that the bag was stolen.
After searching the grounds for two hours, from 4pm to 6pm, the staff told Singadilaga to head home as the zoo was about to close.
He left his contact information with the staff.
After Singadilaga returned to the hotel, a zoo staff member contacted him and advised him to file a police report.
The staff member claimed that they would only continue an investigation once a case was officially opened with the police.
At 6.33pm, Singadilaga filed a police report. The police subsequently did not respond.
The Indonesian national said that he planned to visit the embassy in case the family’s passports needed to be replaced.
At 7pm, Singadilaga and his father visited Kampong Java Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC).
There was reportedly a lack of staff at the station as it was a Sunday night.
They were advised to visit Woodlands NPC the following morning but decided to try their luck there later that evening.
At 8.30pm, the two arrived at Woodlands NPC. Singadilaga stated that an officer asked him for his contact number.
He was then informed that the officer in charge of the case could not be contacted. As such, the police could only take action the next day.
He shared his frustration at the continued lack of action on the X thread.
Source: X
In an exclusive statement to MS News, Singadilaga said he heard stories of SPF finishing cases quickly, thus expecting them to do the same for him.
Honestly, I was stunned, because I had high hopes that they would investigate as soon as they received the report but unfortunately, they just dismissed my case as if it was nothing.
Bag with valuables recovered, owner relieved
On Monday (19 Oct) at 8am, Singadilaga was contacted by the person who found the bag.
An hour later, Singadilaga received an email from the Investigation Officer (IO) in charge of his case stating that they would investigate.
However, he informed the police the bag had already been located and that there would be no need to pursue the investigation further.
According to Singadilaga, the bag was found by a domestic helper, who was visiting the zoo with her employers.
The family waited for someone to claim the bag, but no one came to retrieve it.
They attempted to locate the owner by asking people around them, but this did not work either.
While the domestic helper initially believed the bag was a lunchbox, she checked the bag and saw that it contained cash. Fearing someone else could potentially steal it, she brought the bag home for safekeeping.
Singadilaga clarified that she had no intention of stealing the bag. She also reportedly “forgot” that Singapore Zoo had a lost and found.
The domestic helper planned to post the names of the passports on Facebook, so that their rightful owners could claim them.
However, her employer searched for the name of Singadilaga’s father, Heri Cahyono.
Mr Cahyono is a prominent businessman in Indonesia, and his contact information was publicly available.
Meetup over coffee
The employer decided to contact Mr Cahyono and return the bag to him directly, rather than hand it over to the police.
He arranged a meetup with Singadilaga on Monday (19 Oct), at Yew Tee Point at 3pm. Present at the meeting were the domestic helper, the employer, and his two children.
Singadilaga confirmed that he successfully recovered all his valuables.
Source: X
Singadilaga stated that he did not consider pursuing the matter further as they were reportedly “very kind”.
They bonded with the domestic helper, who was also from Indonesia. They later became friends and exchanged contact numbers.
Mr Cahyono also offered the domestic helper a S$300 reward as he felt bad about the trouble they went through.
The family was not expecting a reward, but the domestic helper reportedly accepted the money.
Netizens express sympathy over situation
Some netizens debated whether the case should be classified as personal negligence instead of a criminal offence, as the bag was originally left behind by the owner.
Source: X
However, after Singadilaga shared his experiences at the NPC, netizens agreed the Woodlands police division was notorious for being unhelpful.
They shared similar instances of attempting to reach out to the police, but receiving no response.
Source: X
When asked about his thoughts, Singadilaga believed that the experience served as a reminder to his father to be more careful in the future.
Singadilaga maintained that he was “very detailed” with his police report and felt the police did not respond appropriately to the urgent nature of the loss.
He shared that the zookeepers were “very helpful” and “active” in searching for the missing items, but as for the police, he “expected much better”.
I was just so sad and heartbroken when [the police] dismissed [the case] like it was nothing.
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Featured image adapted from BrightSparks (left) and China Baijiu (right).
