S’pore Grab Driver Left M’sian Family Without Passports & Valuables

There’s truly no better time to be alive than today.

We’ve got 99 problems and though ride-hailing companies can’t solve all, they do provide some form of comfort. Literally.

Lazy? No problem.

Tired? Not an issue.

Late? You can count on them.

Always wanted to follow someone like they do in the movies but tight on cash? Best believe they’ve got your back too.

My experience with ride-hailing companies have been pretty great thus far, but some riders who have it bad.

Malaysian family stranded due to Grab driver’s misconduct

According to TODAYonline, a Malaysian family lost their passports, as well as a significant amount of money and time as a result of their Grab driver’s dishonesty and greed.

Ms Ngui How Ing, 46 was in Singapore for a holiday with her husband and two children.

The family of four were headed home to New Zealand on 29 January this year, and had booked a Grab to Changi Airport. Unfortunately, they alighted without their bag which contained “six passports, three identification cards, two birth certificates, one marriage certificate, RM500 in cash, a stash of Australian and New Zealand currencies and a mobile phone” – all of which amounted to S$1,050.

Ms Ngui only realized the bag had been misplaced five minutes after alighting from the Grab car and notified Grab before lodging a police report. The family left no stone unturned and rushed back to their accommodation in hopes of finding the missing backpack.

The Grab driver in question was 48-year-old Christopher Chan Fook Choy. Not only did Chan fail to return the bag to its rightful owner, he even lied to Grab about seeing it before he “kept the cash and phone, and dumped the passports and other identifying items in a rubbish chute.”

As a result of the 48-year-old’s actions, the family were stranded for three weeks and lost more than S$7,700. They had to fly back to Malaysia to replace all their missing documents – passports, birth certificates, identification cards and marriage certificate.

On top of that, they returned to Singapore to obtain new visas before they could finally head back to New Zealand.

Justice is served

According to State Prosecuting Officer Raj Kishore Rai, Chan helped himself to all the money in the backpack and exchanged it in a money changer for S$850.

The police caught up to Chan’s acts eventually on 13 May where they found him with nothing but the cash and mobile phone belonging to Ms Ngui and her family.

On 25 June, Tuesday, the 48-year-old pleaded guilty to one charge of dishonest misappropriation of movable property in the State Courts, and was sentenced to spend three weeks in jail. In addition, he was required to pay the Malaysian family a total of S$7,762 in compensation.

As per Grab’s requirements, Chan should have informed the ride-hailing company within four hours of discovery, and return the belongings to the passenger or to the Grab Drivers Centre within 48 hours of discovery. A Grab spokesperson said dishonest drivers guilty of such acts will be suspended or terminated.

While there are black sheep like Chan, there are also drivers with a good heart. I’ve personally encountered honest drivers who go the extra mile and drop off lost mobile phones at Police Posts.

Moral of the story? Still can take Grab. Just don’t be careless.