Humans Aren't Cargo

This letter was published in the Straits Times on 30 April 1999. Rules on carrying people in lorries. 30 April 1999 Straits Times Goods vehicles can be used to transport workers if the owners meet certain safety requirements. WE THANK Mr Chan Kin Seng for his feedback in "Ban people sitting in the backs of lorries" (ST, April 17). Currently, owners of goods vehicles are allowed to transport their workers on their trucks only if they can comply with a set of rules to ensure the safety of theworkers. These rules specify the manner and the conditions under which workers can be transported on a goods vehicle. There is also a 50 kmh speed limit imposed on all goods vehicles. The Land Transport Authority and Traffic Police will take enforcement action against drivers who fail to comply with the safety requirements. Drivers found flouting the rules for the first time are liable to be fined up to S$1,000 or to be jailed up to three months. Repeat offenders can be fined up to S$2,00...

The following is a letter published in the Forum page of the Straits Times on 12 July 1990. Workers squat by the road, then on open lorries 12 July 1990 Straits Times WHEN one approaches the junction of Jalan Bukit Merah and Alexandra Road in the evenings, one is likely to see groups of night-shift workers waiting to be picked up by "coverless" lorries. Normally quiet and expressionless, these workers squat by the roadside. When a lorry arrives, they would swiftly climb in and, again, take up a squatting posture. To the observer, some interesting questions arise: What happens if it rains; will they be thrown out of the lorry when there is an accident; and why can't the employer use a bus? Indeed, such a scene is increasingly incompatible with the current economic prosperity in Singapore whereworkers' welfare has improved substantially over the past three decades. Can we explain why children are being sent to schools in air-conditioned mini-buses and their fathers ...