Man, 77, allegedly steals $200 from Eunos temple’s wishing bowl, bows to statue before leaving
A 77-year-old man who allegedly stole about $200 in donations from a wishing bowl in front of a Buddha statue bowed to it before leaving, seemingly “asking for forgiveness”.
The incident took place at around 1pm on Aug 28 at Hoon Sian Keng Temple, located at 82 Changi Road in Eunos.
Hoon Sian Keng Temple chairman Chen Jing Liang (transliterated), 34, told Shin Min Daily News that there were three staff members at the temple at the time — two temple caretakers and a secretary stationed at the front desk.
The two caretakers were tidying the area around the main altar, while the secretary was handling administrative work in the office. None of them noticed what the elderly man was up to.
CCTV footage, however, showed the man approached the statue when the staff were looking away and reached into the wishing bowl to take the money.
He then bowed before the statue, seemingly to “ask for forgiveness”.
Theft took less than 5 minutes
Chen said the temple staff had not seen the elderly man before.
However, after reviewing the CCTV footage, they noticed that he carried out the theft quickly, taking less than five minutes.
They believe he may have visited the temple previously to survey the premises and was already familiar with the surroundings.
Chen explained that the man targeted the wishing bowl placed in front of the statue instead of the four official donation boxes in the temple.
“Devotees generally put coins or notes into the bowl after making a wish. We usually empty the money from the bowl at the end of each day and transfer it into the official donation boxes,” he said.
Temple estimates loss at about $200
Staff at the temple estimate that about $200 was stolen.
“Although the amount is not large, we hope that making this incident public will raise awareness,” said Chen.
“We also want people to know that no matter what difficulties they may be facing, taking money from a temple is wrong.”
In response to Stomp’s queries, police confirmed that it received a call for assistance at the temple at around 2.20pm that day.
A 77-year-old man is assisting with investigations, which are ongoing.
Temple’s donation box also targeted in 2023
The temple was previously stolen from in 2023, according to Shin Min.
Two men allegedly used double-sided tape attached to a fishing line to pull banknotes out from a donation box.
At the time, a temple committee member spotted the pair’s suspicious behaviour, prompting the pair to flee. She then alerted the other committee members and made a police report.
More than $1,000 in donations were stolen during the 2023 incident.
Temple to upgrade CCTV to deter thieves
After the incident in 2023, the temple upgraded its CCTV system so that staff could view live footage remotely from their mobile phones.
However, following the latest incident, Chen said the temple would consider further upgrading its surveillance system.
“Currently, fixed CCTV cameras are installed around the temple. However, if thieves try to conceal themselves, it may still be difficult to clearly capture their faces,” he said.
Moving forward, Chen plans to install movable CCTV cameras around the donation boxes and wishing bowls to strengthen surveillance.
The temple will also further strengthen security measures for donation boxes and wishing bowls, and urged devotees not to leave banknotes in open wishing bowls where possible.
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