'I panicked whole night': Man calls town council after accidentally throwing $2,900 iPhone away

One man thought he had lost his month-old iPhone 16 Pro Max forever after throwing it into the rubbish chute by mistake.

Woon Ban Chee, 22, was taking the trash out from his Teck Whye flat on Oct 18, when he accidentally tossed his $2,900 mobile phone out. 

"I only realised it a few minutes later," said Woon in an interview with AsiaOne on Monday (Oct 28). "I was like, 'Did I just throw my phone away?'"

Woon, who recently resigned from his full-time job as a waiter to care for his sick mother, frantically called Chua Chu Kang Town Council and the waste disposal company for help.

"I panicked the whole night," he said. "I went to the Apple Store on Orchard Road to see if I can get a replacement," he said. "But they didn't allow me to get a new one."

Woon was reunited with his phone when eagle-eyed workers from the e-waste recycling firm Alba spotted the device while searching through the trash at their Tuas plant.

"[There were] no scratches and dents. The case was very smelly, so I threw it away. Everything else is normal," said the young man.

"I now clean my phone with alcohol wipes every day. It's a lesson learnt." 

While Woon had offered the waste disposal workers "anything" as a reward, they declined the offer.

"$2,900 could be gone just like that and I'm so happy they found it in time," he added.

"I'm sharing my experience to thank them." 

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chingshijie@asiaone.com