CABBY JAILED FOR TAKING HEADPHONES LEFT BEHIND BY PASSENGER

Dear A.S.S. Editor

In a sure sign that cabbies are now desperate to make ends meet, a cabby was sentenced to jail for two weeks, after he found a set of headphones left behind by a passenger in his cab and gave it to his daughter, who then sold it on marketplace app Carousell.

Lai Kim Fah, 59, admitted to misappropriating the headphones that he found in the back seat of his taxi last year (2016) on Sept 19. The headphones, which were valued at $699, belonged to Ms Sarah Safa Sherry, 31. Ms Sherry, a Briton, boarded Lai’s taxi at her home in Marine Parade Road that day to go to Terminal 2, Changi Airport. However, just after she alighted from the cab, she realised she had left her headphones behind. She immediately contacted the lost and found section of ComfortDelgro and lodged her report. It just happened that she had a receipt with the taxi’s registration number, issued when she booked the taxi. When ComfortDelgro did not get back to her the next day, she contacted them again.

When ComfortDelGro called Lai, he said he did not find any headphones. The company conveyed the message to Ms Sherry. About 10 days later, Ms Sherry’s boyfriend lodged a police report on her behalf when there was no word on the missing headphones. Investigations showed that Lai found the headphones when he was handing over his taxi to another driver at the end of his shift, and later gave it to his daughter. He then admitted to taking the headphones when police questioned him. The daughter had sold the headphones on Carousell, but managed to get it back after refunding the money back to the buyer. The headphones were handed over to the police.

Lai was the sole breadwinner of his family, and his mistake may have led to him losing his job for good.

Francis Toh