SINGAPORE: After another incident of migrant workers being ferried in a locked lorry was featured in the news this week, many locals online expressed dismay, as they have with similar incidents in the past. Some, however, said they saw nothing wrong.
A Mothership story from Wednesday (Dec 3) showed a photo of the back of a covered lorry with caged sides with several men riding within. None of the men’s faces can be seen, and the vehicle’s number plate has also been blurred.
According to the report, the lorry, which appears to belong to a Jurong-based flooring company, was spotted on the evening of Nov 30 at the junction of Serangoon Road and Rangoon Road. The sighting of it shocked Ram Prasad, who sent it in to Mothership.
Mr Prasad expressed concerns, particularly about the chain and lock on the lorry’s doors, since the workers inside have no access to leaving the vehicle should an emergency arise.
The issue of how migrant workers should be brought to and from their workplaces is a longstanding one in Singapore, and there have been many calls for other means of transport, especially after two migrant workers died and more than a dozen were injured in 2021 due to a collision between a lorry and a stationary tipper truck along the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE).
Migrants’ rights organisations continue to keep the issue alive, and there are even groups such as Humans Not Cargo that regularly highlight it.
Some commenters on the Mothership piece took up these calls again, saying there should be better conditions for ferrying workers.
A Facebook user called it “a tragedy waiting to happen,” and another wrote, “They’re human, please accord them with dignity.”
“Hmmmm, first world country but transport humans like an animal,” observed another.
“If you don’t mind being subject to the same treatment, then it’s okay for you to think this is okay,” chimed in a commenter.
Another wrote that “Nothing will change unless these companies change their mindset, other than focus on cost.”
Others argued that there should at least be an inside lock in this type of vehicle.
Surprisingly, a number of commenters defended the practice, saying that Singapore is not the only country where workers are transported this way.
A few appeared to be so used to this, with one writing, “Hiya, nothing to worry about la. Why all so much drama?”
Earlier this year, the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME) released a report highlighting the risks of transporting migrant workers in lorries and calling for a ban on the practice. HOME pointed out that though ferrying people on lorries is prohibited under Singapore’s Road Traffic Act (RTA), an exception is made for workers.
In Parliament in 2021, a month after back-to-back lorry accidents involving migrant workers, Dr Amy Khor, then Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Transport, said that mandating safer means of transport would add financial burdens to an industry already badly affected by the pandemic.
She said, “From a road safety perspective, it would be ideal for lorries not to carry any passengers in their rear decks. But there are very significant practical and operational issues — on top of just cost considerations — which is probably why internationally, it is (a common) practice.” /TISG
