He was at Gardens by the Bay’s Supertree Grove on the night of Oct. 5. After watching a light‑show, the theft occurred at about 9 p.m.

While he was leaning forward to talk about his itinerary, he heard fast footsteps. When he turned, his Louis Vuitton handbag was gone. He chased a man, grabbed a paper bag the man was holding, and found his LV bag inside, but some items were missing.

The bag had three passports, a Dior wallet, S$200, 800 yuan and camera accessories. He later found one passport under a tree; the other passports, the wallet, cash and a pocket camera were still missing.

Singapore police took his report, examined the bag and gave him a card that said the case would be investigated further.

The tourist said he watched CCTV footage from the park and felt the man seemed to avoid the surveillance cameras.

The case shows how a brief loss of attention can lead to theft, and it also shows the steps police take when a tourist reports a robbery.