Honest Bedok coffee-shop server returns bag of $20,000 cash left behind by couple
Hedy Khoo
The Straits Times
Nov 11, 2026
During the Saturday dinner rush on Nov 7 at Lau Ka Kopitiam in Bedok North, a black bag sat unattended on a chair at a four-seater table.
With the other tables filled at the crowded coffee shop, one woman wanted to take the seat, but server Lau Guat Toh stopped her, thinking the bag might belong to someone queueing for fish soup at the Boon Keng Road Fish Head Bee Hoon stall.
Lau, 56, better known to customers as Ling Jie or Irene, kept an eye on the bag for about 10 minutes before realising its owner had likely left.
She immediately took it to the drinks counter and asked a coffee brewer to keep it at a spot which is monitored by the CCTV camera.
When no one returned, Lau and two colleagues opened the bag under the camera to look for identification.
They were stunned. “It was filled with cash,” she says. “There were $1,000, $100 and $50 notes in stacks.” She estimates the bag easily contained at least $20,000.
The three were so taken aback, they did not dare touch the cash. Neither did they dare look through the bag further. They quickly zipped up the bag, placed it back on the counter under the CCTV camera and alerted their boss, coffee-shop operator Low Boon Chuan, 40.
At the time, Low was driving back to Bedok after delivering 80 bowls of fish soup that he had sponsored for elderly residents at Awwa Senior Community Home in Ang Mo Kio.
Low, who makes such meal donations about five times a month, was on the Central Expressway heading towards the Pan-Island Expressway when he received the call.
“I was worried that the person who lost the money may be very anxious,” he says.
He reached the coffee shop shortly after 7pm and immediately checked the CCTV footage on his phone.
It showed a couple – later identified as Tan Yeok Sin, 70, and his wife Low Hong Geok, 63 – having fish soup in the outdoor dining area at about 6.50pm. She had placed the black bag on the chair beside her. The couple finished their meal quickly and left without it.
They run noodle manufacturer Tan You Peng Food Industries, which employs about 25 workers. The $20,000 was meant for the salaries of several employees.
Tan says they had been distracted because they were rushing to a friend’s wake in Hougang. It was not until 10.30pm that they discovered the money was missing.
After the wake, they had gone home for a short rest and were preparing to head to their factory in Jalan Senang in Chai Chee, where work begins at night.
They searched their car before concluding that the bag was probably still at the coffee shop.
Tan says neither he nor his wife panicked.
“If someone took it, it cannot be helped,” he says calmly in Mandarin. “If something is meant to come, it will come. If it is meant to go, it will go.”
Not the first time
His wife had misplaced a bag at Changi Airport about two years ago, only for a taxi driver to return it.
Tan was not angry with her either. He says he could not bear to get upset over the matter as she has an inflamed colon and was due to undergo surgery on Nov 11.
On Saturday night, while she went to the factory to supervise the workers, Tan drove back to Lau Ka Kopitiam at about 11pm.
“I was just trying my luck to see if my bag was still there,” he says.
The couple are regulars and Tan says the servers recognise not only them, but also their grandson.
When Tan asked at the drinks counter if anyone had found a bag, the coffee brewer immediately called the coffee-shop operator over.
Impressed with honesty
Tan told him that his wife’s identity card and name cards were inside, along with the cash. After the contents were verified, Low Boon Chuan handed the bag back.
“I was very happy. They are so honest,” Tan says.
By then, Lau had already finished her shift at 10.30pm and gone home. She says she was relieved when she learnt the next day that the bag had been claimed.
“I am happy they managed to retrieve their bag. I was so worried for them.”
Lau, who has worked at the coffee shop for about a year, says she has found numerous mobile phones, wallets and even a Malaysian passport left behind by customers, but this was the first time she had picked up so much cash.
Low says he is proud of her and his other staff members for their honesty.
Since he took over Lau Ka Kopitiam in October 2025, forgotten water bottles and shopping bags have been common, with water bottles left behind at least once a week. But he had never encountered a bag containing so much money.
Had Tan not returned, Low says he intended to use the identification in the bag to track down its owner himself.
Coincidentally, the very next day, another customer left behind a Louis Vuitton wallet. She returned to claim it two hours later.
On Nov 10, Tan returned to Lau Ka Kopitiam with a $200 hongbao and bags of kueh, sweets, fried snacks and a Labubu doll from his son’s collection.
Tan initially tried to give the hongbao to Low, but the coffee-shop operator told him it should go to the employee who had found the money. The food was shared among the other coffee-shop employees, while the Labubu doll went to Lau.
Tan thanked Lau personally and took a few photos with her. She plans to keep the hongbao as a souvenir instead of spending the $200.
Tan says he will remind his wife to be more careful and carry less cash next time. He also plans to keep returning to Lau Ka Kopitiam.
After learning about Low’s charity work, Tan says he hopes to contribute to his meal donations in future. “This boss is very kind,” he says.
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