Actor Desmond Tan robbed of mobile phone in Bali

Desmond Tan added that he still loves Bali and its people. PHOTO: THEDESMONDTAN/INSTAGRAM

SINGAPORE - Local actor Desmond Tan said he has decided to "forgive the robbers" who robbed him of his mobile phone in Bali, Indonesia.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday (March 17), the 33-year-old actor wrote posted two photos from his trip and wrote: "The time and experience between these two photos will be something I'll never forget.

"I'm blessed to walk out of this whole robbery without any injuries. It could be worse. Whatever it is, I choose to forgive the robbers and pray that they will one day turn over a new leaf and lead better lives."

He added that he still loves Bali and its people.

Tan was in Bali earlier this month for a friend's wedding when he first posted about the ordeal on Instagram, saying that he had been robbed of his phone and warned friends and fans to ignore any "unusual messages" from his number.

He later updated in another post that he was back in Singapore and on track to purchase a new phone.

In an interview with Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao, Tan said on the evening of March 5, he was riding a motorcycle with a friend back to their vacation villa.

Two men on a motorcycle began following them and then two men on another motorcycle showed up, surrounding Tan before one of them reached out to grab his phone and quickly fled.

The actor said he sped up and gave chase but was eventually stopped by his friend, who was worried that things could get more dangerous.

Tan said his emotions were on a "rollercoaster" after the incident and that he was angry, afraid and paranoid.

"My phone had pictures of my friends, family and dog and they weren't backed up. I'm a sentimental person and now I've lost the images of these memories - it feels like a part of me was taken away," he said.

He added that he uses his phone frequently for work and payments too, and thus had to report his credit card missing as well.

He later reported the incident to the local police and also contacted the Singaporean embassy.

Though his phone does not contain anything salacious, Tan was worried that the robbers might use his name and information for illegal activities.

"Singapore is so safe that you can just leave your phone on the table and nothing will happen - so sometimes we're not cautious. We should still be on alert even when we're relaxing on vacation."

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