A netizen has revealed that his father lost his bicycle, after he left it parked outside an MRT station for a few days and after the station management staff moved the bike to the station’s holding area without consent.
Reddit user u/snowpyne wrote: “So my dad rides his bicycle to work sometimes and parks it at the bicycle lots at the mrt station. But due to the rainy weather these few days, he ends up leaving his bike there for a few days and instead walks home.
“Today when he went to the station to take his bike, the station management has already taken his bike into a bulk holding place. But when the guy brought my dad to the holding place, he couldn’t find his bike.
“I assume someone must’ve taken it instead when they were claiming “their bike”. So now my dad lost his bike and the station management has no answer.”
The netizen, who is considering buying his father another bicycle, sought advice on what he should do and expressed disappointment at the lack of accountability or consideration for the properties of others.
He added that this was not the first time his father’s bike had been forcibly removed from a parking bay without consent. Earlier, the Singaporean’s town council broke his bike’s lock when it was parked at the the bicycle lots under his block.
u/snowpyne shared: “They required those abandoned/spoilt bikes to be removed but they did the same for my dad’s cause they deemed it was “dirty”.”
Several netizens advised the Reddit user that it would best to get his father a new bike instead of going through the hassle trying to locate the lost bike. One netizen, u/satireisus, advised:
“I am sure MRT stations and Town Councils operate on a similar approach that you see practised in many countries. They can seize bikes that are left behind or abandoned after a few days.
“They are at liberty to dispose of them with no compensation to owners. They are also not obliged to have it in holding for the owners. If indeed they have holding yard for owners to pick it, that would be storage fees like car vehicles impounded by the Police.
“Owners if they are lucky can check to see if it’s still in the holding bay. Best to buy your dad a new bike. Pointless wasting anymore time on this.”
The Independent has approached SMRT for comment and will update this story once we receive a response.