What happens to lost property at bus terminals?

I can't tell you about what happens to lost property worldwide but I can tell you what I was told about what happens at Bedok bus terminus / interchange near Changi airport on the East coast of Singapore. I was worried that an item I had either lost or had stolen might have been tossed aside in a bin and never checked.

I was pleased to learn that the lost property bin, which seemed to contain lots of discarded children's bags and old scarves, would not have contained any jacket or bag of unchecked valuables. In a hot country, such as Singapore the staff carefully go through the contents of items left behind, (returning valuables to addresses listed, on a sign here basis) mainly to remove perishables.

You can imagine that in a country where the temperature is 28 degrees centigrade / 82 degrees fahrenheit all year, a left behind meat or fish sandwich, or even an apple or mango, could be crawling with insects. I envisage maggots, marching lines of ants. Even a piece of fresh fruit could attract fruit flies and cockroaches within 12 hours.

I remember the first apartment I lived in, in Singapore. A brand new building. Even though we were on a high floor, and everything was brand new and clean, if you didn't sweep up every crumb, next day you would have ants everywhere, and cockroaches scuttling off and rustling when you opened the door to the kitchen or dining area in the morning.

I had reported my lost item, which was noted in their book, together with my family's contact details, days earlier. Yet I was still haunted by the vision of the bin of lost property. Were the staff so busy dealing with a queue of customers at the front desk, speaking through holes in the window, to think about looking at this and that in lost property bin?

I remembered when I had lost a swimsuit at club. I knew it had to be there. Nobody would have taken it, because I was a large lady, size 16, and most of the locals were flat chested Asians, size 6-8. I asked if they had had a dark blue costume handed in.

The lady on the desk checked her list. No blue costume. I had also lost a black swim hat. Yes, they had it.

I stood at the desk, convinced that my swimsuit was somewhere, if only she or I looked. I said, "Do you have any swimsuits? May I check?"

She looked, "No. Only this one."  She held it up.

"That's it!" I exulted.

"This is not blue, it's black."

"Navy blue," I replied.

She shook her head. "Not blue, black."

"In this neon light it looks black, but if you take it to the window, it's dark blue. Never mind the colour, it's mine. May I take it?"

She looked unconvinced. "You sign here."

"It's mine," I said. "It's my size. I can try it on and show you. I'll leave my address and phone number. If somebody else says they are missing a costume this size, I'll bring it back."

My persistence had paid off. I had found my costume. But I was convinced that you have to look at the items missing, not at the list, because the item might be mis-described. You recognise your property.

That was why I was still haunted by the vision of the unchecked bin at the terminus and went back. Unfortunately I never got to go through the bus terminal bin, but I did have the conversation.

Latest - they won't send on your item, just ask for your phone number so that you can collect the item, with some form of identity. (Yes, if your identity card is in the lost item, they will have to look at the photo and see it's you. What if you've left the country? A lost item is very costly in terms of money and time spent.)

So I can well believe that staff are very careful to check inside every item left behind on a bus and tossed into a bin of lost property. That is very reassuring. I recall the lovely man at the Bedok bus terminus who reassured me. His last words to me were a slight bow and faint sympathetic smile, as the lack of one's valuables is a kind of bereavement, 'So sorry for your loss.'