http://www.asiaone.com/News/The+New+Paper/Story/A1Story20091029-176642.html
Is this how temple thief fished money out?
By Lediati Tan
WHEN donations to the temple fell by 20 per cent in the past two months, he initially thought it was linked to the recession.
But Mr Liew Weng Kwong, 58, the chairman of a market committee that looks after the temple, now believes someone may have been helping himself to the money inside the donation box using a crudely-made device.
The makeshift Tua Pek Kong temple at Block 724, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 is about 10m from the market and stall holders help to look after it.
Mr Liew said he and three other stall holders, who are also committee members, discovered the device when they opened up the donation box located beneath the altar on October 10.
It was made out of a 30cm metal wire with a small, folded piece of cardboard attached to one end. Double-sided sticky tape was stuck on one side of the cardboard.
Mr Liew believes the device was used to fish money out of the donation box, which has seven locks.
$2 stuck to it
He said there was a $2 note stuck to the piece of cardboard and a bag of coins.
Mr Liew said he and the other stall holders tested the device by using it to pick money out of the box and found it could be done easily.
He feels the thief could have accidentally dropped the device into the box while trying to take money out.
When Mr Liew opened the donation box, he said there was $295 inside, but claimed it was the smallest amount collected since they started looking after the temple in February.
The box is emptied twice a month. Before October 10, this was done on September 26.
Mr Liew said "a few hundred dollars" may have been lost as the temple should have received more donations over the Mid-Autumn Festival at the beginning of this month.
He didn't want to give a specific figure.
Celebrations and decorations
He added that apart from donating to charity, the money is used to pay for Tua Pek Kong's birthday celebrations and to buy decorations for the market for special events such as Chinese New Year and National Day.
The stall holders did not make a police report as they did not have much proof except for the device.
But a day after they discovered the device, they spent $500 to install two CCTV cameras at the temple.
Some stall holders told The New Paper that the Tua Pek Kong temple is at least 30 years old, and was moved from within the market to outside after the market underwent refurbishment about two years ago.
Is this how temple thief fished money out?
By Lediati Tan
WHEN donations to the temple fell by 20 per cent in the past two months, he initially thought it was linked to the recession.
But Mr Liew Weng Kwong, 58, the chairman of a market committee that looks after the temple, now believes someone may have been helping himself to the money inside the donation box using a crudely-made device.
The makeshift Tua Pek Kong temple at Block 724, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 is about 10m from the market and stall holders help to look after it.
Mr Liew said he and three other stall holders, who are also committee members, discovered the device when they opened up the donation box located beneath the altar on October 10.
It was made out of a 30cm metal wire with a small, folded piece of cardboard attached to one end. Double-sided sticky tape was stuck on one side of the cardboard.
Mr Liew believes the device was used to fish money out of the donation box, which has seven locks.
$2 stuck to it
He said there was a $2 note stuck to the piece of cardboard and a bag of coins.
Mr Liew said he and the other stall holders tested the device by using it to pick money out of the box and found it could be done easily.
He feels the thief could have accidentally dropped the device into the box while trying to take money out.
When Mr Liew opened the donation box, he said there was $295 inside, but claimed it was the smallest amount collected since they started looking after the temple in February.
The box is emptied twice a month. Before October 10, this was done on September 26.
Mr Liew said "a few hundred dollars" may have been lost as the temple should have received more donations over the Mid-Autumn Festival at the beginning of this month.
He didn't want to give a specific figure.
Celebrations and decorations
He added that apart from donating to charity, the money is used to pay for Tua Pek Kong's birthday celebrations and to buy decorations for the market for special events such as Chinese New Year and National Day.
The stall holders did not make a police report as they did not have much proof except for the device.
But a day after they discovered the device, they spent $500 to install two CCTV cameras at the temple.
Some stall holders told The New Paper that the Tua Pek Kong temple is at least 30 years old, and was moved from within the market to outside after the market underwent refurbishment about two years ago.
