Charity coffee shop loses 10 donation boxes in suspected theft with more than S$20,000 missing

A suspected theft involving 10 charity donation boxes has left Kwan Tzi Zhai Vegetarian Cuisine at Block 134 Geylang East Avenue 1 counting losses estimated at more than S$20,000 after the containers disappeared in the early hours of 14 June 2026.

Police confirmed they were alerted to the case at about 5.30am and investigations are ongoing.

The coffee shop’s 72-year-old manager, Zhu Yunping, told local media outlet 8 World News that she received a call from an employee at around 4am informing her that all the donation boxes placed outside the premises had apparently vanished.

The missing boxes were used to collect public donations for several charitable organisations, including the Buddha of Medicine Welfare Society, the Singapore Chung Hwa Medical Institution and the Singapore Buddhist Free Clinic.

Estimated losses could reach S$30,000

Zhu estimated that the combined value of donations inside the boxes was between S$20,000 and S$30,000.

She explained that representatives from the participating organisations typically collected the boxes once a month, with each container usually holding between S$2,000 and S$3,000 in donations from members of the public.

“We feel extremely heartbroken and guilty because these donations were meant to help other people,” Zhu said.

“I really do not understand why anyone would steal charity donations.”

Previous incident prompted tighter security

The latest theft is not the first to affect the coffee shop.

Around a decade ago, another batch of donation boxes was reportedly stolen, resulting in losses exceeding S$10,000.

Following that incident, Zhu invested close to S$3,000 in customised steel barriers and used plastic fasteners to secure the boxes.

Staff also adopted a routine of moving the donation boxes indoors every night after business hours.

Those precautions had reportedly prevented further incidents for almost 10 years.

Employee’s oversight preceded theft

On the night before the theft, however, the employee responsible for closing the premises was feeling unwell and inadvertently forgot to bring the donation boxes inside.

Zhu said the oversight proved costly despite years of careful practice.

“We were always so careful. Just this once we slipped up, and the money was stolen,” she said.

The employee reportedly apologised repeatedly after realising the mistake.

Suspicions over how theft was carried out

Zhu believes the perpetrator may have planned the theft in advance and exploited blind spots in the coffee shop’s closed-circuit television camera coverage.

Although surveillance cameras were installed around the premises, she said none captured the individual responsible, possibly because the movements remained outside the cameras’ field of view after all stalls had closed for the night.

She also noted that one of the trolleys normally used to collect used bowls and plates had gone missing.

This led her to suspect the trolley may have been taken and used to transport the donation boxes, each of which could weigh between 4kg and 5kg when full.

Future of donation boxes uncertain

The incident has raised concerns about whether charity donation boxes can continue to be displayed outside the coffee shop.

Zhu said she had been informed that placing them outdoors in future might no longer be possible, a prospect she found deeply upsetting given the role the collections played in supporting charitable causes.

“I still hope we can continue helping people,” she said.