17 October, 2008
Story and photo by CHARLES FERNANDEZ

AIRPORT cleaner Sirammah Ramasamy, 30, could have just taken it, but she followed her conscience.

SHe handed over a bag containing a laptop she found while cleaning a ladies toilet in the arrival hall of the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang on Tuesday.

For someone who works for daily wages, the Apple laptop costing RM6,000 could have been a windfall, but it never crossed her mind to keep it.

"I knew it was an expensive item and would mean a lot to the person who lost it. It is sinful to keep it and not report the loss," she said.

Sirammah said, since she started working as cleaner four months ago, it was the first time she had come across an item in a ladies toilet.

She said she usually inspected the area she was cleaning to ascertain that no belongings were left behind.

The owner, who wanted to be known as only as J. Tan, realised that her laptop was missing only on reaching home.

She immediately contacted the airport to report the loss and in the evening she received the good news that her item was in safe custody.

Good deed: Raghbir Singh receiving the laptop from Sirammah at his office in the LCCT terminal in Sepang recently

On Wednesday morning, Tan collected her laptop from LCCT-KLIA Malaysia Airports Sepang manager Raghbir Singh Bhall's office.

Sirammah, who received a token of appreciation from Tan, said the gesture would spur her to work responsibly.

"People are busy. Many passengers lug more than one item and are bound to miss something. Most of the time, the belongings are left behind at check-in counters," said Bhall.

Bhall said, on average, six laptops are reported missing each month.

Tan said she had given up on her laptop after recalling that she had left it in the ladies toilet.

It was a sweet surprise when she received a call from the airport in the evening.

"I had just returned from Singapore, was tired and just wanted to reach home as soon as possible. I was carrying too many bags," said Tan.

Tan, who was ecstatic about getting back her laptop, praised Sirammah for her honesty.

This article is a verbatim copy of the original article from The Star.