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For those who had reported lost of their watches, here's a little something to hope for. Article is lifted from the Straits Times, 9 May 09 (Sat):
Lost something? Find it online
Police to have lost-and-found site by year's end
LOST and found services in Singapore are getting an online upgrade under a new system being implemented by the Singapore Police Force.
By the end of the year, people who have lost personal items can visit the police's lost-and-found picture gallery to see if the item has been picked up by a good samaritan, and call a new hotline to reclaim it.
The one-stop lost-and-found initiative is an effort to streamline the matching process between lost items and their owners to free up officers so they can focus on core policing duties.
Currently, lost-and-found item reports can be lodged at any police post, after which the reports are forwarded to the regional police headquarters, said police spokesman William Goh. Because of this, where a found item is reported can vary greatly from the place the report is filed, making it difficult and tedious for officers to match the items.
Centralising all lost-and-found matters, said Deputy Superintendent Goh, will pay off in "greater efficiency". Every year, 120,000 lost item complaints are made; the police receive about 20,000 found items, from mobile phones to cameras, wallets and haversacks. The police force does not track how many make it back to their rightful owners.
The police, said DSP Goh, are also looking at using the Internet to help trace owners. One idea is to post pictures in the digital cameras or mobile phones found on an online gallery. People who have lost such items can check the gallery to see if they recognise any of the pictures posted. It will also consider putting online pictures of other items found.
To ensure lost items are reunited with their rightful owners, the police will have authentication measures, said DSP Goh, although details are currently under evaluation.
Mr Alan Lim, a 39-year-old financial adviser, likes the idea. "Maybe ifhere was such a thing six months ago, I would have got my camera back," he said. He had left his Canon digital camera in, he believes, the taxi that ferried his family home from the airport after a family vacation.
As the popularity of the Internet grows, individual good samaritans are going online to find owners of lost objects, as have those who lose items precious to them - with increasing success.
Many pet owners, for example, now post lost pet notices on sites like HardwareZone.
Worldwide, more and more websites dedicated to this are springing up. A recent New York Times report said that "traditional lost-and-founds are migrating online, and start-ups and hobby websites have sprouted with the aim of harnessing people's altruistic impulses to return lost items."
One such group, the Found Cameras and Orphan Pictures blog, has reunited 19 digital cameras - picked up in places from China to Rome - with their owners since the site was set up earlier this year. Said the blog's founder, Canadian student Matt Prepost: "Generally when people are given the opportunity to do something good for someone else, they'll take it."
Lost something? Find it online
Police to have lost-and-found site by year's end
LOST and found services in Singapore are getting an online upgrade under a new system being implemented by the Singapore Police Force.
By the end of the year, people who have lost personal items can visit the police's lost-and-found picture gallery to see if the item has been picked up by a good samaritan, and call a new hotline to reclaim it.
The one-stop lost-and-found initiative is an effort to streamline the matching process between lost items and their owners to free up officers so they can focus on core policing duties.
Currently, lost-and-found item reports can be lodged at any police post, after which the reports are forwarded to the regional police headquarters, said police spokesman William Goh. Because of this, where a found item is reported can vary greatly from the place the report is filed, making it difficult and tedious for officers to match the items.
Centralising all lost-and-found matters, said Deputy Superintendent Goh, will pay off in "greater efficiency". Every year, 120,000 lost item complaints are made; the police receive about 20,000 found items, from mobile phones to cameras, wallets and haversacks. The police force does not track how many make it back to their rightful owners.
The police, said DSP Goh, are also looking at using the Internet to help trace owners. One idea is to post pictures in the digital cameras or mobile phones found on an online gallery. People who have lost such items can check the gallery to see if they recognise any of the pictures posted. It will also consider putting online pictures of other items found.
To ensure lost items are reunited with their rightful owners, the police will have authentication measures, said DSP Goh, although details are currently under evaluation.
Mr Alan Lim, a 39-year-old financial adviser, likes the idea. "Maybe ifhere was such a thing six months ago, I would have got my camera back," he said. He had left his Canon digital camera in, he believes, the taxi that ferried his family home from the airport after a family vacation.
As the popularity of the Internet grows, individual good samaritans are going online to find owners of lost objects, as have those who lose items precious to them - with increasing success.
Many pet owners, for example, now post lost pet notices on sites like HardwareZone.
Worldwide, more and more websites dedicated to this are springing up. A recent New York Times report said that "traditional lost-and-founds are migrating online, and start-ups and hobby websites have sprouted with the aim of harnessing people's altruistic impulses to return lost items."
One such group, the Found Cameras and Orphan Pictures blog, has reunited 19 digital cameras - picked up in places from China to Rome - with their owners since the site was set up earlier this year. Said the blog's founder, Canadian student Matt Prepost: "Generally when people are given the opportunity to do something good for someone else, they'll take it."
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