Ghim Moh Market Stalls Stolen From “In Broad Daylight”

Most of us would probably know Singapore as a pretty safe country.

I mean, with a relatively low crime rate as compared to other countries, it’s not hard to see why.

But as the saying goes, low crime doesn’t mean no crime.

And that’s definitely something that stallholders at Ghim Moh Market and Food Centre have been able to relate to as of late.

Recently, multiple stallholders or employees of various stalls within the market have had their money stolen.

In broad daylight.

When speaking to Shin Min Daily News, a sundry goods stallholder named Mr Wu (Hanyu pinyin) revealed that thefts occurred at the market for over four consecutive days from 2 to 5 May.

Most of the thefts involved stallholders’ or employees’ waist pouches being stolen, but one particularly unlucky stall had the box used to store the stall’s money being stolen when the thief returned the following Thursday (11 May).

Additionally, all the thefts involved different stalls within the market and food centre.

And because there are just way too many thefts to keep track of, here’s a chronological timeline of the various thefts that have taken place at the market thus far.

Thief Stole From Vegetable Stall on Tuesday

Firstly, the vegetable stall was the first to fall victim to the thief after an employee’s waist pouch containing money was stolen on a Tuesday (2 May).

The employee, Ms Liao (Hanyu pinyin), told Shin Min that she was preparing to close the stall at around 1 pm that day when she realised that her waist pouch had gone missing.

She shared that she had placed the pouch on the table before it was stolen.

According to Ms Liao, she only had around $10 and some medication in the pouch.

However, she added that this was not the first time her waist pouch was stolen.

Thief Stole From Fruit Stall on Wednesday

The following day (3 May), the stall owner of the fruit stall was the one who ended up having his

The stall owner, Mr Shen Jiangwen (Hanyu pinyin), revealed that the theft at his stall happened at around 5 pm that day when he and his wife were preparing to close the stall.

Mr Shen, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Ghim Moh Market & Shops Merchants’ Association, had left his stall to throw rubbish while his wife was cleaning up the stall.

When he returned to the stall, he realised that his waist pouch had gone missing.

Mr Shen, 59, noted that the waist pouch, which contained over $100, was placed under a cabinet and was even covered by a piece of cloth, meaning that the thief must have had sharp observational skills in order to spot the waist pouch.

He added that this was his first time experiencing theft in his five years of running a stall at the Ghim Moh Market and Food Centre.

After realising that his waist pouch had been stolen, Mr Shen immediately sent a message in the group chat with other stallholders to alert them of the situation.

Thief Stole From Clothing Pushcart Store on Thursday

On Thursday (4 May), an employee of the clothing pushcart store had her waist pouch stolen, too, after leaving it at her stall for a while.

When Shin Min reporters visited the store on Saturday (13 May) morning, the store was not open.

However, the store owner from the mobile phone stall next door revealed that the lady had placed her waist pouch at her store before visiting the restroom.

When she returned from the restroom, she realised it had been stolen.

As for what was inside her waist pouch, the mobile phone store’s store owner, Mr Zeng (Hanyu pinyin), said that it contained over $1,000 as the lady had just received her salary.

Apart from that, the employee is from Malaysia, so her pouch contained her passport and work permit as well.

Upon realising that her waist pouch had gone missing, the woman started to cry out of panic and worry.

Additionally, Mr Zeng, 51, disclosed that thefts are actually “quite common” in the area and claimed they happen at least once a month.

Thief Stole From Sundry Goods Stall on Friday; Police Was Called

However, even after stealing more than $1,000 on Thursday (4 May), the thefts didn’t stop there.

The thefts continued the next day (5 May) when the stallholder of a sundry goods stall at the market, Mr Wu’s wife, had her waist pouch stolen.

The waist pouch contained over $100 in cash, Mrs Wu’s National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) and her credit card.

Mr Wu recalled how his wife placed her waist pouch on the table of their stall when she went to buy drinks at the nearby drinks stall that morning before it was stolen.

According to him, the drinks stall was less than 100 metres away, and his wife was only away from the store for less than two minutes.

On the other hand, Mr Wu was outside the stall trying to attract customers to the stall.

This time, Mr and Mrs Wu decided to alert the police immediately after they found out that Mrs Wu’s waist pouch had been stolen.

Mr Wu described how a large group of police officers went down to the market that day after the police report was made.

Thereafter, Mrs Wu’s waist pouch was found next to the bak kut teh stall around an hour later.

Her NRIC and credit card were left in the waist pouch while the cash was all gone.

Mr Wu then speculated that the thief might have decided to just take the cash with them and leave without the waist pouch out of fear after seeing the number of police officers at the scene.

He added that his wife was the only person who got her waist pouch back.

Thief Continued to Come Back After Police Investigations, Stole From Teochew Porridge Stall the Following Week

While the stallholders thought that the police report would deter the thief from making any more trips back to the market, it did not.

In fact, the thief returned last Thursday (11 May) and stole a box containing money from a Teochew porridge stall that day.

The stall owner, Mr Zhuo (Hanyu pinyin), recounted how he was washing bowls inside the stall while one of his employees was standing at the front of the stall.

The other employee of the stall had been in the restroom during the time of the theft.

The money box had been placed on the counter in the stall, in between where Mr Zhuo and his employee were standing at.

This meant that the thief would have had to be a pretty good ninja in order to get past Mr Zhuo’s employee and sandwich themselves between Mr Zhuo and his employee and get access to the money box.

Mr Zhuo also said that this was the first time he had fallen victim to theft after operating his stall at the market for eight years.

Apart from that, he revealed that there was approximately $300 in the money box when it was stolen.

Afterwards, Mr Zhuo called the police and added that he intends to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

Thief Likely to be the Same Person, Lady Assisting With Investigations

As for who the thief could be, Mr Wu speculated that it might have been the same thief who stole money from the different stores in the market.

He also said that the police showed him the CCTV footage after the police report was made.

The footage confirmed that the thief who stole Mrs Wu’s waist pouch was a woman who wore a cap, glasses and a mask at the time of the theft.

She also seemed to be holding other things in her hands when stealing the waist pouch.

He then commented that the thief seemed “professional” and experienced in conducting such acts.

Apart from that, he revealed that some stallholders who fell victim to the thefts chose not to report the matter to the police and wanted to resolve the situation in a more low-key manner.

However, Mr Wu still chose to reveal the matter to the public to remind everyone to be more cautious.

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When responding to queries from Shin Min, the police confirmed that they received a report regarding the matter on Friday (12 May).

A woman in her 40s is currently assisting with investigations.

Investigations are still going on.