Singapore sinkhole rescue sparks calls for migrant worker safety reforms

South China Morning Post

7 days ago

The migrant workers who
rescued a woman trapped in a sinkhole on a
Singapore road over the weekend have drawn widespread praise, but their actions have also reignited debate over the conditions these labourers face, especially the contentious issue of transporting them in the backs of lorries.
The rare incident occurred on Saturday evening along Tanjong Katong Road South, when a black Mazda was swallowed sideways into a three-metre (10-foot) deep cavity filled with murky water. Video footage circulating on social media showed workers sprinting to the scene and pulling the female driver to safety using a rope.
One of the men involved, construction foreman Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah, was seen directing efforts from the roadside. Rather than jumping in, which he said would have left them unable to climb out, Subbiah instructed others to toss a nylon rope into the hole, then helped them hoist the woman up. After the rescue, he lent her his phone to call her daughter.
By Monday, authorities had filled in the hole and were compacting the ground further, according to local lawmaker Goh Pei Ming. Additional safety tests would be conducted before the road could be reopened, he said.
Dipa Swaminathan, founder of migrant worker charity ItsRainingRaincoats, noted this was the second recent case of foreign workers stepping in as first responders to save lives in Singapore. In April, a group of migrant labourers
helped evacuate children from the second floor of a shophouse in River Valley after a fire broke out.
'This is just the second incident in recent months, but there have been countless over the years. If they see a crisis developing in front of them, they will never ever look the other way or walk the other way, they will come in to help,' she told This Week in Asia.