Woman who dropped AirPod in drain & got it back after 5 minutes says 'Singapore efficiency is real’

SINGAPORE: A woman based in Singapore could not help but marvel at “Singapore efficiency” after a recent minor mishap took all of five minutes to be resolved.

Ms Angela, who goes by @I.TGal_inSG on TikTok, took to the platform earlier this month to show what happened after she accidentally dropped one of her AirPods down a drainage grate.

“Singapore efficiency is real. One call and it was sorted. Didn’t even take 5 minutes!” she wrote.

The video shows a migrant worker going down the drain, quickly retrieving her earphone, and handing it back to her.

The grateful TikTok user gave him a shoutout, writing her “Huge thanks to Brother Ronie for saving me S$100.”

She apparently wanted to reward him for the service he rendered, but added that she did not have cash on her at the time. 

However, Ronie did not want to give her his PayNow details either.

Ms Angela decided to “bless him” with her box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts instead.

“Grateful to be here!” she wrote in the caption of her post, together with a Singapore flag and a praying hands emoji.

As much as Ms Angela wanted to thank Mr Ronie for retrieving her AirPod, he could not have accepted cash from her anyway, as this is against the guidelines set by Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. 

Even for non-cash tokens of appreciation, an item that is worth S$50 or more needs to be declared or surrendered. Fortunately, doughnuts from Krispy Kreme are well under that amount.

According to reporting from Mothership, Ms Angela dropped her AirPods at Bukit Batok Avenue 1 as she was returning them to her case after getting off the bus shortly past 8:30 pm. She and the friend she was with called the Jurong-Clementi-Bukit Batok Town Council.

Mr Ronie arrived at 8:43 p.m. and, before 8:48 p.m., handed her back her AirPods. /TISG

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