Matching up to First World safety standards

The following letter was published in TODAY on 25 August 2009.

Matching up to First World safety standards

by From F Bushfield

I WAS in a foreign country last month. I noticed that their construction workers were transported by vans and other passenger vehicles.

I said to a local colleague: "Why not follow Singapore's model of transporting these workers in the back of a lorry ... it is cheaper and the company does not need to have separate vehicles for goods and workers." He said it is illegal to do so. The country I was in is China. Is it okay for Singaporeans to have a lower standard than China? Where is the benchmarking we Singaporeans are so proud of?

URL:

http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC090825-0000041/Matching-up-to-First-World-safety-standards