About 13 percent of bus drivers in Singapore are from China, revealed Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew in Parliament on Monday.
Mr Lui was responding to a question asked by Choa Chu Kang MP Zaqy Mohamad if measures are put in place to ensure “foreign bus drivers are well qualified, adaptable and can assimilate as well and do their job effectively here and without compromising the safety of other other road users and pedestrians.”
However, the percentage is probably much higher as the figure does not include those who have been ‘converted’ into Singapore PR. About 61 percent of bus drivers are locals or PRs. Singapore is probably the only country in the world which gives PRs and citizenship to bus drivers.
Mr Lui reassured Parliament that all foreign drivers are ‘adequately’ trained before they are allowed to drive on Singapore roads:
“The more important thing actually is to make sure (that), regardless of nationality, every driver is adequately trained, appropriately qualified, and especially if they come from abroad, then they are given the kind of orientation that will help them familiarise themselves with the peculiarities of the system in Singapore.”
He added that “bus driver salaries for this sector should remain market-driven, and private bus operators should make their own commercial decisions on how to ensure that their businesses remain viable in the face of a tightening labour market.”
