Brazen man caught on video stealing from elderly Orchard Road busker, walks away coolly when confronted

Brazen man caught on video stealing from elderly Orchard Road busker, walks away coolly when confronted
PHOTO: Instagram/Kaypoh.sg

Being a busker is hard work, especially when your income depends on whether the public likes your performance or not. 

So you can imagine how upset one elderly busker felt after a stranger stole from him in broad daylight. 

In a video by Kaypoh.sg that was uploaded onto Sgfollowsall on Tuesday (March 7), the old man was seen dancing along a street on Orchard Road.

His donation box was placed around a metre away from him. 

Mid-performance, a man wearing a blue shirt and headphones walked up to the busker's donation box and peered inside before attempting to stick his hand in the box. 

Shocked, the elderly busker confronted the man, who looked up once before taking something from the box and coolly walking away. 

The elderly busker continued to call out to the man while pointing at his donation box but the man didn't look back. 

In the midst of this, an elderly lady walked by and the busker said something inaudible to her. She then walked after the man while shouting. 

"Oh my god, he took his money," said a person taking the video in the background before breaking out into laughter. 

Despite the unfortunate event, the busker didn't let it deter him and he resumed his performance. 

"Oh my god, poor uncle," the observer said while continuing to laugh.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by SgfollowsAll (@sgfollowsall)

 

Understandably, netizens were shocked by the incident with one woman saying "I thought Singapore was a safe place." 

But several netizens expressed anger towards the observer for choosing to just document the incident instead of lending a helping hand. 

However, one netizen reasoned that perhaps the one taking the video could have been inside a vehicle and hence could not help the busker. 

AsiaOne has reached out to Sgfollowsall for more details. 

Elderly man attacked by 4 teens at Jurong East 

Last August, a 67-year-old man was attacked by four teens who tried to rob him. 

The incident occurred at about 6.15am on July 13 at Block 225A, Jurong East Street 21 when the retiree was on his way home from Yuhua Village Market and Food Centre. 

He had been hit on the back of his head and when he turned around to see who did so, someone tried to grab his belongings from his left breast pocket. 

The teens then fled the scene while making hand gestures at the old man. 

Relentless, the old man followed them for 500 metres before they realised this and they retaliated back by using a broom to hit him. They also kicked his hand. 

Eventually, the elderly man sought help from nearby residents and made a police report. 

melissateo@asiaone.com

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