Ang Moh: PAPee Treat Peasants As 3rd World Beings!

[makapaaa]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>The way we move workers doesn't do us proud
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->NEEDLESS to say, I was very happy to read Wednesday's report, 'Workers on lorries get more protection'.
It was a tragic accident on the Pan-Island Expressway on Aug 23, 2007 ('13 workers flung out of crash lorry; one dead'), that led to my first letter to Forum ('Better mode of worker transport needed', Aug 28, 2007). The letter drew some positive feedback, even to the point where some people came to identify me as the 'advocate' of the cause of workers' transport safety.
Unfortunately, not much progress has been made since then.
On Feb 22 last year, The Straits Times published a well-documented and richly illustrated report on the subject, stating that 'safety takes a back seat for lorries' live cargo'.
The statistics in the most recent report further underline the sorry state of affairs: In 2007, there were 210 injuries and casualties, a 300 per cent increase over 69 of 2005.
The new safety measures come none too early. I am glad that MP Halimah Yacob questioned the appropriateness of a three-year period to fully implement these new rules.
Granted, slow and partial as it is, increased safety is still an improvement. It is also heartening to note that one aspect of the plight of hundreds of thousands of non-citizens in our midst got front-page coverage.
But I regret that, even after these new measures, we remain stuck with a mode of transport - visible to all, citizens and visitors alike - that is not flattering in a First World country like Singapore. Such treatment is not good for our public image. It is not dignified for our fellow men, nor is it good for ourselves as human beings.
Paul Staes

 

[makapaaa]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Why the double standards when it comes to foreign workers?
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to last Thursday's letter by Ms Isabel Vadivu Govind, 'Safer? Workers shouldn't be on lorries at all'.
I have always been baffled by the fact that passengers in enclosed private cars are required by law to put on seat belts, but workers are allowed to travel in open lorries and pick-up trucks. Many accidents and deaths involving foreign workers transported this way have occurred over the years.
Higher cost has been cited by both employers and the Government as the main reason a safer arrangement cannot be provided. I cannot understand the logic of comparing human life with economic costs.
When a life is lost, it is lost forever and no amount of money can bring it back. Would we have accepted the argument if those dead were Singaporeans? Would we not have asked (or demanded) safer protection for workers on the road?
Every one of those lives lost is someone's father or son or brother or husband. If we can make seat belts compulsory for all car passengers, we should expect equivalent safety measures for foreign workers who have come all the way here at considerable expense to earn a living and help us build our nation.
Tan Thiam Soon

 

[makapaaa]

It sure looks like the Old Fart's FTrash card has turned sour!

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Lorries are designed to carry goods, not people
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I WRITE in support of last Thursday's letter by Ms Isabel Vadivu Govind, 'Safer? Workers shouldn't be on lorries at all'.
In 2006, I moved from the Netherlands to Singapore to experience a marvellous time living in your beautiful country. However, the first time I saw a lorry packed with people in the back, I was astonished and was convinced this must be an illegal way to transport people.
This is certainly not the norm in my home country. We do not even transport animals this way. Soon I learnt this is common practice to take foreign workers in Singapore to their workplace, but every time I saw it, I could not believe it was legal and accepted.
I did not want to think what would happen to the men if the lorry had to make an emergency stop or, even worse, was involved in an accident.
This should not be the way to transport people, especially when the men are so vital to Singapore's construction work. I had a hard time explaining this back home.
I read in the newspaper that in three years' time, lorries will have to meet new guidelines. These may appear to protect workers but they are far from sufficient and will not safeguard workers in the event of hazard.
In the long run, these small improvements may actually delay implementation of what is really needed: passenger vehicles, with seats and belts.
This is a requirement for all others in Singapore, so why these different standards?
Lorries remain designed to transport goods, and people should not be transported in this way.
Nel Broers (Ms)

 

[makapaaa]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Are the foreign lorry drivers properly tested?

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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I AM glad the Government is taking steps to enhance the safety of foreign workers' mode of transport.
The measures announced mostly concern physical aspects of transport which, while enhancing the safety of workers, do not prevent accidents that result in deaths.
Often you see foreign workers at the wheel. The question is whether these workers are allowed to function as drivers and, if so, are they qualified and properly tested to drive in Singapore?
Driving in remote areas of India and China is not the same as driving on our congested highways.
Workers who act as drivers should be properly tested before they are allowed on our roads. This is another aspect of safety the Government should look into.
Ong Theng Hong
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