A 21-year-old solo traveler lost her S$921 camera after asking a stranger to assist her in taking a picture at Fort Canning.
The Chinese student, who identified herself as Ms. Lee, told Shin Min Daily News that the woman left without returning her camera. The incident happened on Thursday, February 20, at approximately 12:45 pm, when Ms. Lee went to the Fort Canning Tree Tunnel, a well-known location for clicking pictures that was even included in a Coldplay music video.
The location was quite crowded, so she waited in line and struck up a conversation with a woman in a straw hat and white dress behind her.
Challenging for police to track the woman
When it was her turn to click photo, she gave her phone to the woman and a DJI Osmo Pocket 3 camera and asked her to help her in taking a picture. After clicking the photos, the woman gave the phone back to Ms. Lee and asked her to review them.
According to the Chinese student, it took her no more than three minutes to go downstairs and look at her pictures. But all of a sudden, she realized that the woman who had vanished still had her camera. Though Ms. Lee searched the entire park, she was unable to trace her.
After receiving a call from Ms. Lee, the police looked through local CCTV footage and discovered that the woman was traveling with a middle-aged guy. However, it was challenging to track them down because the Tree Tunnel lacks CCTV cameras.
Shin Min was informed by the police that they had received the report and were looking into the matter.
Precious memories in camera
Ms. Lee, a native of Shenyang in Liaoning province, claimed to have paid 5,000 Chinese yuan (S$921) for the camera just four months ago. She was "heartbroken" by the loss because it was quite expensive for a student.
Customer care informed her that even after being reported lost, the camera can still be utilized because it lacks a global locating system. Ms. Lee noted that the woman might have called customer service or the police if she had wished to return it.
In addition to the camera itself, Ms. Lee said that the images within held "precious memories". She added that they included unsupported photos from months ago as well as pictures from her recent vacation in Singapore.
She is therefore prepared to provide the couple with 4,000 yuan (S$737) in exchange for returning the camera. On Saturday, February 22, she left Singapore at midday with the intention to get it back by then.
