Lost and found: Man returns wallet to owner, accepts $2 as reward to buy teh tarik

When Zimmy Bagang returned a lost wallet to its rightful owner, he did not expect a reward for doing so.

In the end, he ended up agreeing to receive $2 in return for his good deed — the cost of a cup of teh tarik.

Bagang found the wallet in question at Changi Business Park on Wednesday (Feb 21) at about 9pm.

The wallet contained a work permit card belonging to a man named Wang Defeng and over $480 in cash.

Speaking to AsiaOne, Bagang explained: "I felt a sense of responsibility. There had to be a reason I found the wallet."

"I felt that I had to return the wallet to its owner in person because it involved a lot of money," he added.

Bagang then took to a 'lost and found' group on Facebook for help in locating the owner of the wallet.

He posted a picture of the wallet's contents along with details such as Wang's full name and employer.

Bagang told AsiaOne that a friend of Wang had come across his Facebook post and alerted Wang immediately.

Multiple netizens also called Wang's place of employment in an attempt to reach him.

As a result, Wang was able to get in contact with Bagang via WhatsApp to arrange a meet up.

"It was very fast with the help of people on Facebook. I managed to get in contact with Mr Wang within one hour of my post going up," Bagang said.

"A lot of people called into Mr Wang's office. It became a call centre overnight," he joked.

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Bagang met with Wang on Thursday and returned the wallet to him with all of its contents intact.

In his second Facebook post about the incident, Bagang said that Wang repeatedly insisted on giving him a large amount of money as a reward for returning the wallet.

"Mr Wang offered me quite some amount of money as a token of appreciation. And he seemed [to not be] moving until I accepted the money," Bagang said.

"I had to turn him down nicely and tell him that it's a lot of money. But again, he insisted for me to take it," he added.

Not wanting to disappoint him, Bagang eventually accepted a reward from Wang.

"I [then] told Mr Wang I could accept $2, nothing more than that. Enough for me to buy teh tarik," he said.

When asked if he expected any reward for his action, Bagang said: "Not at all, just wanted to spread joy and kindness."

"We should always act with integrity and responsibility. When we do good to others, it will come back to us — it's just a matter of time," he added.

ALSO READ: 'I'm touched by the kindness': Single mum left with $8 in bank account after losing wallet gets $1,300 in donations from strangers

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com