SINGAPORE, Dec 21 — By dawn, the fluorescent lights of a McDonald’s outlet had already seen one anxious night through. A Malaysian man in his twenties, stranded in Singapore without his passport, had spent the night there because he could not return home.

With nowhere else to turn, he headed to Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange at daybreak. What followed was an outpouring of fear and relief that would soon ripple far beyond the passenger service office.

The man, identified only as Mr M, broke down in tears as he told senior assistant interchange supervisor Nithyananthan Palne — known to colleagues as Nathan — about his predicament.

“He was crying, saying he couldn’t return to Malaysia without his passport and didn’t know what to do,” the SBS Transit staff member recounted.

In a Facebook post yesterday, the public transport operator said the distressed traveller had approached the passenger service office seeking help, believing he might have left his passport on a bus.

Nathan sprang into action, calling several bus interchanges and the Seletar Bus Depot. The breakthrough came when he learnt that a bus captain had found a passport under a seat on bus service 24.

After verifying the man’s identity, Nathan personally went to the depot, retrieved the passport and returned to the interchange to hand it back.

“He was overjoyed the moment he got it back,” Nathan said, adding that the man called several days later to thank him personally.

For Mr M, the relief was overwhelming. In a letter later sent to SBS Transit to commend Nathan, he described how quickly his ordinary trip had turned into a nightmare.

“I lost my passport, and I have no idea where I lost it. Because I couldn’t find where I lost my passport, I couldn’t go home to Malaysia and slept at McDonald’s last night,” he wrote.

His gratitude was just as plain.

“I am extremely happy and surprised by his prompt and efficient action to help me find my lost passport… I would like to thank him so much (sic).”