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any know that getting back one’s belongings forgotten in public places is not easy. However, people can still rely on the honesty and kindness of strangers as well as lost and found services in the capital if they forget their belongings somewhere.

As a fried rice seller for 19 years, 39-year-old Ahmad has seen many of his customers forget their belongings. He would store the items inside his cart and wait for the owner to come back.

“There was a guy who forgot his tablet on the table, which looked brand new as if it was right out of the store. Luckily, he came back after two days,” Ahmad said.

He added that most people usually forgot items like cigarettes or wallets, especially when they were in a group as they were having “too much fun to realize that they had left something behind”.

“It’s not a question of whether I know them or not. The importance is that I keep their belongings safe until the owner comes back,” Ahmad said.

In other public places, lost and found services have helped forgetful residents get their belongings back.

For belongings lost at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, senior branch communications staffer Febri Toga Simatupang recommends that owners of lost items make contact with the airport through its social media channels, customer service or lost and found center.

“They can file a report by phone, WhatsApp and social media [...] It will be reported to each terminal’s operational or service team,” Febri said.

He added that there were 28,000 items that had been left unattended throughout 2018 and 80 percent was returned based on reports through the contact centers.

The lost and found offices are also a part of the service provided by train operator PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI). It has lost and found offices at three of its 79 stations.

“Even though there are only three offices, they are all connected through an internal system that registers each item found. So people can report their forgotten items at every station,” said KCI spokesperson Eva Chairunnisa.

She added that those who had lost their possessions could contact station staff or the call center to file a report about the loss, including the time of loss, point of departure, final destination and description of the item.

Security personnel on the train, Eva said, would also check every car as it approaches the terminus and collect any items left behind by passengers. They would then take the items to the lost and found office.

In contrast to the case where a bag was found with Rp 40 million (US$2,830) inside it, the owner of which immediately reported his loss and claimed the bag back, Eva said many lost items go unreported because the owners were either “unaware of the loss or thought the loss was insignificant”.

“The lost and found offices are full of unclaimed and unreported belongings, not including those which are stolen. Food is thrown away within three days of being found while nonconsumable goods are kept for a maximum of three months, which will then be donated to charity if the loss remains unreported,” Eva said.

Last year, there were 5,808 lost items found on commuter trains, including 2,302 bags, 1,906 small items like water bottles and glasses and 353 motorcycle helmets.

However, not all reported losses are handed to the authorities, like in the case of passenger Anggi Widya who lost her bag on a train as she traveled home from work in 2015.

She said that a crowd had already amassed at around 5 a.m. at Tanah Abang station in Central Jakarta, causing her to be pushed toward the exit without her bag.

“I contacted the train’s customer service team and made a report but I received a notification from them through the phone later in the afternoon that my bag was nowhere to be found,” Anggi told The Jakarta Post.

She expressed hopelessness regarding recovering lost items. “If my belongings are lost in public places, I just let it go and give up. So I don’t put any effort into finding it,” she added. (mai)