SINGAPORE - A Singapore Airlines (SIA) crew member has received praise from a passenger for his "almost ridiculously" high level of service, in a Facebook post that has garnered much attention on social media.

The 1,011-word "letter" by Facebook user Gary Leung, which was posted on the SIA page on Wednesday (Sept 27), details how Chief Steward Foo Wen Huee went to great lengths in his attempt to retrieve the passenger's SIM card during a flight.

According to Mr Leung, who was in Business Class, the incident occured in June on Flight SQ860 during the second and last leg of his journey from London to Hong Kong.

He was in the midst of switching the SIM cards in his mobile phone when he lost grip of the nano SIM card, which fell into a tiny gap through his seat to the carpeted floor.

He could see the card, but the gap was too small and the SIM card too far down to be reached.

After Mr Leung sought help from the cabin crew, Mr Foo appeared with an improvised rescue device - two ice prongs that were straightened and taped together.

"That was the start of what was many, many minutes of chief steward turned part treasure hunter, part fisherman, 100% awesome. Not once. Not twice. But multiple sessions. And in his full uniform, suit jacket and all," wrote Mr Leung.

Despite all of Mr Foo's efforts, the SIM card remained unretrievable by the time the plane landed.

But Mr Foo did not give up. He contacted the ground staff and engineers came on board to dismantle the seat to look for the SIM card, wrote Mr Leung.

"If this isn't service, I don't know what is," he wrote, adding that the crew member updated him with photos via WhatsApp on the search progress.

While the SIM card was never found, Mr Leung said he was deeply appreciative of the valiant efforts of everyone involved.

"Please let everyone know how appreciative I am of them. And please reward Mr Foo for his unnecessarily - almost ridiculously - high level of professionalism, service, and dedication," he urged in his Facebook post.

When contacted by The Straits Times, a spokesman for SIA said: "Our cabin crew undergo extensive training on how to cater to different customer groups. Training equips our crew with skills to understand and meet the needs of a wide range of customers.

"We are pleased that our crew member was able to assist our customer on this occasion."