Source: Shin Min Daily News
A Singapore photographer who lost over S$10,000 worth of equipment in a carpark has been reunited with his precious gear — thanks to the sharp eyes and kind hearts of strangers online.
The incident happened on 26 June, after Mr Khidzer Chong, 39, wrapped up a job at PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Mr Chong said he left the hotel at around 8pm and walked over to Marina Square to retrieve his car.
In a moment of carelessness, he left his work bag behind in the carpark, not realising it until he got home.
Inside the bag were two professional cameras, several lenses, and — most crucially for him — files from that day’s shoot.
Source: @Khidzer Chong on Facebook
“The most important item was the day’s work,” he told Shin Min. “I thought it was gone for good. The contents were worth five figures.”
He immediately rushed back to the carpark and checked with mall security, but the bag was nowhere to be found.
Without a police report, he couldn’t view the CCTV footage either and left around 1am, empty-handed.
Refusing to give up, Mr Chong checked his dashcam footage and posted the incident online, asking for help.
That’s when the internet worked its magic.
A female netizen reached out, saying her friend had found a suspicious-looking bag while retrieving their car in the same carpark.
The friend had posted on Facebook to search for the owner. Unfortunately, the post wasn’t public, so it could not have reached Mr Chong without the female netizen’s help.
Source: @Khidzer Chong on Facebook
“I was really lucky,” Mr Chong said. “The person’s Facebook had over 200 friends, and one of them happened to see my post and notified me.”
The person who had found the work bag reportedly planned to hand it over to the mall management the next day, but thanks to Facebook, Mr Chong managed to get in touch and arrange a meeting.
“They were very cautious and asked me many questions,” he recalled. “After confirming I was the rightful owner, they returned the bag to me.”
Mr Chong said he did show his appreciation after getting the bag back but preferred not to go into details.
According to him, the person who found the bag initially thought it might be a dangerous item, given its unattended location.
After waiting 20 minutes, they checked the contents and realised it contained valuable photography equipment.
Since the mall had already closed by then, the person decided to hold onto the bag and return the next day to hand it over to the mall management.
“I am truly grateful to those who helped share my post,” Mr Chong said. “I really appreciate that there are still good people in the world. I almost thought I had to change careers. I believe this experience is a good thing worth sharing.”
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.