Leaving your shoes on in the house? Not a thing in our little slice of the world, but maybe the Americans and Europeans who do it aren’t as crazy as we think. It’s at least worth mulling after what appears to be a rash of shoe thievery taking place around our normally tranquil city-state.
The latest example of blatant shoe-nicking comes courtesy of Facebook user Nur Ashiqin Muhammad Kyaizam. In a video she posted on Sunday, two ladies can be seen casually trying on shoes taken from a shoe rack placed along the corridor of an HDB flat in Teck Whye.
“Happened on Saturday night, these 2 brave young ladies seems to be brazenly choosing which lucky shoes and flip flops they would like for their Cinderella journey to prison. Well take your time to choose. Help me spread the words ya,” Nur captioned the clip.
Towards the end of the clip, the women appear to make a run for it, presumably after hearing a sound coming from inside the house.
According to the CCTV clip’s time-stamp, the incident took place at about 9:54pm on Saturday. But they weren’t done yet. A second video shows one of the girls returning to the scene of the would-be crime at about 15 minutes later.
She can be seen looking around, possibly for witnesses, when she spots the surveillance camera. She immediately buries her face in her hands before walking out of frame — not incriminating at all.
The bizarre security footage unsurprisingly led to plenty of netizens making fun of the girls’ foiled, low-level heist.
“Maybe they think the [annual Great Singapore Sale] is held at your house,” said one marginally amusing netizen.
“Someone thinks this is a warehouse sale,” said another.
This is the third incident in less than a month in which individuals have been caught on camera enjoying the ol’ five-finger discount in HBD corridors.
On June 20, a 27-year-old Grab deliveryman was also caught on video looting a pair of shoes from a flat at Keat Hong Close. The man was subsequently arrested on June 28, and Grab said it was cooperating with the authorities on the case.
Just last week, a man wearing a GrabFood shirt was filmed stealing a towel from a clothes rack outside an HDB flat.
Responding to a comment on Facebook, Nur shared that she has reported the crime to the authorities, and we can only hope that our apartment corridors will once again be safe for footwear in the near future. Godspeed, Singapore!
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