SINGAPORE - Noticing an unattended sling bag at a table in front of her stall, bak kut teh hawker Jalynn Woon picked it up.

To her surprise, she found a large sum of money inside.

Speaking to The Straits Times on Wednesday, the 37-year-old, who works at the Hong Ji Claypot Herbal Bak Kut Teh stall in a coffee shop in Jurong West, said: “I picked it up and saw that there was a thick stack of $100 notes inside, but was not sure how much the total was.

“I remembered that there was a man seated at the table and decided to keep it in case he came back since it looked like a lot of money.”

The incident happened on Feb 4. The man had eaten his lunch but walked off, leaving his bag behind at the coffee shop. In it was some $13,000 in cash meant to pay for his younger brother’s funeral.

Upon realising his carelessness, he returned to the coffee shop over an hour later, expecting that the bag was lost forever. To his relief, it was with Ms Woon.

She said that the man, who identified himself only as Mr Bay, appeared lost and flustered when he returned.

“After thanking me profusely, he told me the money was to pay for his younger brother’s funeral,” she said. “I’m not sure if the money was condolence money collected from the funeral as he did not specify.”

To express his gratitude, Mr Bay told her he would ask his friends to patronise her stall.

An account by a Stomp reader, who referred to Mr Bay as his uncle, said: “Being the person he was, my uncle was pessimistic and did not think his bag would still be at the stall... Fortunately, Ms Woon had kept the bag safe and all the money was intact.

“My uncle is grateful to Ms Woon for her kind gesture and uprightness.”