If there’s one thing that you probably shouldn’t try to do in Singapore, it’s steal something.
And if there’s another thing you probably shouldn’t do, it’s to try and take matters into your own hands when you clearly shouldn’t.
And it seems like both of these things happened at the void deck of an HDB block at Woodlands recently.
Thief Stole E-Bike at Yishun, Returned at Woodlands But Owner Wants More
Just yesterday (6 June), a video of two men quarrelling over an e-bike was posted on the @adminsgfollowsalll Instagram page.
According to the post’s caption, the video came from a viewer’s submission.
“this guy steal my friend ebike in yishun and and brought it to woodland (video is taken at woodland),” the caption wrote.
The two-minute-long video, allegedly shot at the void deck of an HDB block in Woodlands, involved a man going up to another after seeing that the latter was working on the rear of an e-bike with some tools.
The first man, who was behind the camera, is apparently the actual owner of the bike, and the man wearing the blue shirt in the video apparently stole it from him.
The thief also had other e-bikes and a toolbox next to him.
Once the owner approached the thief, he shot at the thief with, “Brother, why you steal my bike?” in a surprisingly calm tone.
“Don’t argue bro, be honest! You want to settle this peacefully, or?” he added.
The “thief”, clearly left shocked at the sudden confrontation, refused to admit that he had stolen any e-bikes according to the footage.
The owner then asked why his own bike was here if it had not been stolen.
The owner also threatened the thief by saying that he would call the police and even mentioned that he “already made a [police report] already”.
“Don’t want admit, it’s okay one,” he said to the thief when the latter begin to turn around and walk back to the bikes.
The alleged thief initially denied stealing anything throughout the first part of the video, but then told the owner to “wait” repeatedly.
Afterwards walking back to the bikes, the thief removed his items from the owner’s e-bike and told the owner, “Paiseh bro, you can take back [the bike].”
And it seemed like that was the trigger point for the owner, who started using vulgarities when speaking to the thief in a more agitated tone in the rest of the video.
The owner also revealed that he was a delivery driver and the thief had wasted his time and effort as well by stealing his e-bike, and that he was unable to earn any income while his bike was stolen.
The Instagram post did not indicate when exactly did the incident occur.
Settled on an Arrangement for Thief to Apologise and Pay $2,000
After the pair engaged in some discussion, they finally agreed on a set of conditions.
The e-bike’s owner requested for the thief to not only apologise on video and admit that he had stolen the e-bike, but also wanted the thief to compensate him with $2,000.
The thief agreed to the conditions.
“You will [make a] private settlement by paying $2,000 in two weeks’ time,” the owner announced in the video and instructing the thief to repeat after him.
The owner also made the thief say that he would be allowed to file a report if the thief did not pay up by then.
Netizens’ Reactions
In the comments section of the video that has since garnered over 14,760 views on Instagram, there were commenters who criticised the thief’s actions of stealing the e-bike.
However, most of the comments were fixated on the owner’s attitude when dealing with the situation, especially when he asked the thief to pay him $2,000 within two weeks.
Some Instagram users pointed out that the owner was threatening, and that he was in the wrong too for seemingly trying to “profit off” this incident unreasonably.
“Okay he in the wrong, but $2k in 2 weeks!?! For what? Highly doubt you can even make HALF of that in 2 weeks,” one commenter wrote.
Another user also pointed out that it could have just been a coincidence and that the man somehow had the same e-bike model as the owner or that the “thief” works as an e-bike repairman.
“How in the first place he know that the guy stole his e bike?? Then just shoot anyhow..we might not know he just repair those ebike for a living..sekali kena like that..$200-$300 okay ah..but $2000..alot mann,” that user commented.
The video was later shared to the Singapore Incidents Facebook group, with most netizens echoing similar sentiments that both parties were at fault.
However, while some called the e-bike owner out for “extortion” and trying to take advantage of the thief, others also pointed out that he had the right to ask for monetary compensation since he relies on his e-bike to earn a living.
Featured Image: Instagram (@adminsgfollowsalll)
