There are certain people in life who have more power than we really acknowledge — people that can make your life a living hell if you push them far enough.

Tay Boon Keh is that person.

The 66-year-old baggage handler at Changi Airport in Singapore was recently sentenced to three weeks in jail.

You might be thinking what did he take? Did he go through people’s luggage etc. A million things could happen. Just know, Tay Boon Keh ruined the trips of countless travelers and cost Singapore Airlines and SilkAir more than $30,000.

The employee, who worked for an airport subcontractor, was assigned to bag security screening back in 2016, and the x-ray machine he was using kept breaking down. This meant he repeatedly had to lug the heavy bags by hand to another machine several yards away. His superiors told him they were short staffed so there were no intentions on addressing the issue.

Finally, Tay Boon Keh had enough so he did what disgruntled employees do — and created chaos for everyone involved.

He switched the baggage tags on the luggage he was handling. He was careful to change the tags in a spot where he wouldn’t be seen by security cameras. Tay Boon Keh was working on baggage headed to flights of Singapore Airlines and SilkAir.

Over a period of more than three weeks, he swapped bag tags on almost 300 pieces of luggage — sending bags everywhere but the place they were supposed to go.

The two airlines started to get complaints from passengers who never saw their bags on the carousel. The complaints continued to roll in for weeks, and the airlines ended up compensating hundreds of infuriated customers — being $30K.

Authorities began investigating and Tay Boon Keh was caught and confessed to being behind all of the shenanigans. A judge charged him with numerous acts of “mischief.”

His attorneys argued that the court should give him a break because he suffers from depression.

The judge disagreed.

 

Recommended
Join the Discussion

COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
More Stuff