'They won't learn anything': Minimart posts CCTV of kids allegedly shoplifting, rejects stranger's offer to pay

Most instances of shoplifting are usually reported to the police. 

However, the owner of a minimart at Bukit Batok Street 21, Tian Zhu, posted on Facebook that he has decided to hold off notifying the authorities when a group of three teens were caught on CCTV allegedly swiping some items off his shelves yesterday (Oct 6). 

Instead, he uploaded a series of screengrabs from his CCTV camera of the trio on Facebook group Complaint Singapore that day, urging them to return to the minimart within the next two days "to avoid the whole video being posted and police report made". 

He also warned other store owners in the Bukit Batok area to "take note and be careful". 

The series of photos showed two boys and one girl, who looked like teenagers, loitering around the store's aisles. 

Tian Zhu also shared that they had allegedly stolen at least one small bottle of Absolute Vodka and one packet of Maggi Five-minute Mashed Potato shoving them into a white bag.

When one netizen reached out to Tian Zhu and offered to make payment on behalf of the teenagers, he rejected the offer. 

"Please don't just make payment for them, they won't learn anything," he explained, urging the netizen to ask the trio to return to the shop if he knows them. 

Other netizens praised Tian Zhu for showing kindness to the shoplifters, and in response, he emphasised the importance of mixing with the right crowd.  

AsiaOne has reached out to Tian Zhu for more details. 

In another shoplifting incident last September, a couple was caught allegedly stealing from Ace Mart in Yishun with a child in tow. 

"Kindly refrain from bringing your children along when stealing groceries. We do not wish to see your child learn the wrong things growing up," said a notice put up by the minimart owner to warn both customers and the shoplifters. 

Apparently, this isn't the first time the woman had committed the crime either and the minimart owner shared then that she had shoplifted from their store multiple times in the past. 

melissateo@asiaone.com

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