More haste, less speed

In our rush to fill positions, firms must ensure new foreign hires are properly trained

Letter from Yee Jenn Jong

THE death and injuries caused by the crane that smashed into the upper deck of a bus along Chai Chee Road (“One killed as bus, lorry collide in Bedok”, July 17-18) is tragic. I was driving past and saw the wreckage.

I wonder how a crane arm can smash into a bus that had already overtaken it on a lane meant for vehicle passage. It looks suspiciously like someone’s negligence or poor understanding of crane operations.

It brought to my mind another dangerous incident I encountered last month while on a family day trip to Sentosa organised by my university alumni.

The bus arrived late and the driver did not know how to turn on the air-conditioning (he only managed to figure it out midway through the journey).

He asked if anyone knew how to get to Sentosa. The driver spoke only Mandarin, with a mainland Chinese accent. He said he has only just started driving bus.

Once on Sentosa, while he was going around a sloped bend, the bus stalled. He could not control the clutch. We had to direct cars behind the bus to move away as it slid several times and got dangerously close to hitting them. Finally a passenger showed him how to handle the clutch and he moved off.

We alighted at a bus stop that was on a slope. The driver again tried for five minutes before he could finally move off.

There were many people at the bus stop and I told them to move away just in case.

I have never seen such poor handling of a bus. There had been some 50 people on board, including young children.

In our haste to fill positions with foreign workers, companies must ensure they are properly trained, especially when handling vehicles and equipment.

I hope all companies take such matters seriously to avoid tragedies from happening.

More haste, less speed

In our rush to fill positions, firms must ensure new foreign hires are properly trained

Letter from Yee Jenn Jong

THE death and injuries caused by the crane that smashed into the upper deck of a bus along Chai Chee Road (“One killed as bus, lorry collide in Bedok”, July 17-18) is tragic. I was driving past and saw the wreckage.

I wonder how a crane arm can smash into a bus that had already overtaken it on a lane meant for vehicle passage. It looks suspiciously like someone’s negligence or poor understanding of crane operations.

It brought to my mind another dangerous incident I encountered last month while on a family day trip to Sentosa organised by my university alumni.

The bus arrived late and the driver did not know how to turn on the air-conditioning (he only managed to figure it out midway through the journey).

He asked if anyone knew how to get to Sentosa. The driver spoke only Mandarin, with a mainland Chinese accent. He said he has only just started driving bus.

Once on Sentosa, while he was going around a sloped bend, the bus stalled. He could not control the clutch. We had to direct cars behind the bus to move away as it slid several times and got dangerously close to hitting them. Finally a passenger showed him how to handle the clutch and he moved off.

We alighted at a bus stop that was on a slope. The driver again tried for five minutes before he could finally move off.

There were many people at the bus stop and I told them to move away just in case.

I have never seen such poor handling of a bus. There had been some 50 people on board, including young children.

In our haste to fill positions with foreign workers, companies must ensure they are properly trained, especially when handling vehicles and equipment.

I hope all companies take such matters seriously to avoid tragedies from happening.

Animal cruelty has no parallel

Letter from Derrick Tan

I REFER to the letter, “Animal cruelty in its various guises” (July 16), by Daryl

Yong. He suggested the recent uproar over the act of animal cruelty by an anonymous woman is “the height of hypocrisy”, as many of us eat meat and legitimise the shooting of crows and the poisoning of mice as “pest control”.

His argument is flawed. Pest control is vital to health and hygiene, while slaughtering animals is sanctioned to support lives and done professionally to minimise hurting the animal.

Animal cruelty has no parallel — it is the abuse and physical torture of a pet one has committed to look after, and an inhumane act that disgraces mankind.