Hard helmets hanging along the gate of a construction site I jog past regularly.I like the fact that these helmets have distinctive markings. The stripes, initials, stickers - they all put a face to the horde of foreign workers from India, Pakistan, Thailand, China and some other Asian countries.
As a nation so proud of its efficiency and successes, it has to take a few hard knocks - by that I refer to the recent traffic accidents and subsequent deaths involving foreign workers in the construction industry - for the authorities to wake up to take transport safety for these individuals seriously. The papers did report on improved safety measures for transporting the workers on open lorries which are sometimes overcrowded and other times operated by errant drivers. These measures were to be enforced much later, until the demise of a few individuals of late. All hail the swift cleanups after the complains on apparently poorly maintained HDB estates and the flooding of Orchard Road! All carried out to protect the minty image of our little red dot on the map! But do we always have to wait until blood is spilled before we act to protect human lives? Need I even mention the recent deaths of cyclists on the roads?
For families who have lost fathers, husbands and sons, I hope the authorities will sort out the predicament SOON.
Labels: foreign workers, wordless wednesday
