A textile recycling bin at the void deck of an HDB block in Jurong West, Singapore, was entered by someone rummaging for clothes around midnight on October 4. The scene was captured by a food delivery rider and posted to TikTok, sparking discussion about the person's safety and how recycling bins are used.

Key Points

  • The person who filmed it is Bong Chin Fatt, 40, a food delivery rider; the footage was taken around midnight on October 4 at a Jurong West HDB void deck.
  • The video shows legs in jeans and slippers sticking out of the recycling bin, with the knees bending at the end of the clip.
  • Bong said he saw the man rummaging in the recycling bin in the early hours two or three times between September 28 and October 4. The man would take out a bag of clothes and avoid him when he approached.

According to Stomp, Bong said he was "frightened" the first time he saw two legs sticking out of the recycling bin. He also said this was not the man's first appearance — from September 28 to October 4, he saw him rummaging inside the bin two or three times in the early morning, each time coming out with a bag of clothes. When Bong approached, the man would deliberately avoid him.

Bong said he would next take the initiative to go up and tell the man he cannot do this, because others may need the clothes more; he also worried about safety, saying, "What if he gets stuck inside?"

In the video's comments section, some netizens said they initially mistook the legs sticking out for a mannequin, only realizing it was a person when the legs moved at the end of the clip. Others joked that the person was trying to "donate himself"; another netizen speculated that someone may have mistakenly put items into the recycling bin and was retrieving them.

In Singapore, textile recycling bins are generally set up by communities or recycling organizations in public spaces such as HDB void decks to collect old clothes and textiles dropped off by residents. Although this incident was an individual act, it also puts the risks of "rummaging inside recycling bins" and the issue of order in old-clothes donation before the public: for those who rummage, climbing into the bin carries the risk of being trapped or injured; for the community, bins being rummaged through can also affect the normal recycling flow of old clothes.

Source: Delivery rider gets a ‘fright’ seeing legs sticking out of Jurong West textile recycling bin at midnight · Originally published on 2026-10-07