Honest Bedok coffee shop server returns bag of $20,000 cash left behind by couple
SINGAPORE — 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.