“UNETHICAL” PRACTICE
Netizens, including Singapore’s Ambassador-At-Large Professor Tommy Koh, were quick to condemn the group’s statement. CNA’s Facebook post on the issue has drawn more than 800 comments, most of which criticised what was said.
One commenter said that it was “unethical” that the business groups had pointed to more traffic on the roads and greater commuter congestion as a consequence of transporting workers more safely, as the workers “are as human as we are”.
Another highlighted that school buses also cause traffic jams and “that’s why school timings are different from work timings”. Addressing the issue of potential congestion is a matter of “simple scheduling”, and has “nothing to do with mode of transport”, they said.
A few added that companies should, in the first place, ensure compliant driving by their workers to prevent injuries and deaths.
Prof Koh wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday that “Singapore has the dubious distinction of being the only wealthy country” where employers are allowed to transport workers at the back of lorries without seats and seat belts, adding that he wasn’t surprised by the business groups’ joint statement.
“They are resorting to scare tactics to support their cause … The real reason for their opposition is money. It will increase their costs of doing business if they are required to transport their foreign workers in vehicles with seats and seat belts. We should not be misled by their campaign,” he wrote.
The lives of these workers are “as precious as our own” and they should be “treated in the same way as we treat ourselves”, including requiring them to have seats and seat belts, stated Prof Koh, who has previously commented on the “third world” way that workers are treated in “first world” Singapore.
“As a first world country, we should abolish practices from the past which are incompatible with our status and reputation,” he said in his post.
In response to CNA’s queries about the joint statement by the business bodies, migrant worker advocacy group Workers Make Possible said they “challenge the executives of the 25 business groups who signed the statement to ferry themselves to work day after day on the back of goods-lorries to reduce the traffic congestion they are so worried about”.
CNA contacted the joint business group on Wednesday for their response to the public sentiment around its statement, but has not received a reply.
Source: CNA
