Measures to Protect Bus Drivers and Public Transport Service Staff

18 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Transport in light of the recent incident of an SBS bus driver being abused (a) what more can the Ministry do to protect our bus captains and transport service staff; (b) how can high-risk passenger management procedures be enhanced; (c) whether a public awareness campaign directed at passengers to encourage respect for bus drivers and to outline expected behaviours while travelling on public transport can be explored; and (d) whether a code of conduct for passengers can be developed.

The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Mr Chee Hong Tat) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, bus captains are called "captains" for a reason. They are in charge of the bus and ensure the safety of commuters throughout their journeys. In today's context, this includes ensuring commuters wear masks, so that public transport does not become a transmission setting.

Sir, I am very concerned about the recent cases of commuters verbally or physically abusing bus captains. The actions are wrong and unacceptable. I think people all know that, and it is not a matter of writing down a code of conduct. What we need is to take a clear stand. The Government, unions, public transport operators, and I would say the great majority of Singaporeans, we stand united in taking a zero-tolerance approach towards such abusive behaviours.

The large majority of commuters treat our public transport workers and other commuters with courtesy and respect. For the small number who think they can behave badly and get away with it, let me be clear – if you abuse our public transport workers, whether verbally or physically, be prepared to face the full consequences under the law.

LTA will work with the unions and public transport operators to remind commuters of the serious consequences of abusing public transport workers and to raise awareness on the responsibilities of commuters on public transport.

Commuters too can play a part when such incidents happen. For the recent case where a bus captain was attacked by a commuter who refused to wear his mask properly, three good Samaritans helped to restrain the assailant before the Police arrived. I met two of them, Mr Clement Tan and Mr Muhammad Mu’tasim. Mr Melvin Yong was there too at the recent event; he was representing the National Transport Workers' Union. Mr Tan was a commando during his National Service and Mr Mu’tasim served his National Service as a Police officer. We applaud them for their courage to step forward and do the right thing.

The best way to protect our bus captains and recognise their contributions is to have the right societal culture, one that is based on respect for our frontline workers. Let us continue to support our public transport workers, so that they can work in a safe environment and provide an essential service to keep Singapore going.

Mr Speaker: Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mr Speaker, I thank the Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat for answering my question. I have one supplementary question.

With regard to his zero-tolerance approach to the issue, I am reassured that LTA and MOT will take this zero-tolerance approach very strongly against commuters who get offensive against the bus captains. My question is: will LTA or MOT be willing to explore doing reviews just like what was done by the state of Queensland, Australia, for example, where they did an Improving Bus Drivers' Safety Review in 2018? They came up with a few measures introduced in 2018, including anti-shatter films, driver barriers and also a release of a code of conduct for passengers in the middle of 2018. They also ran a public awareness campaign from June to December 2018. So, my question is whether LTA or MOT will be willing to explore such a review and encourage best practices between our multiple bus operators? Because, after all, a bus driver who feels safe means all passengers are safe.

Mr Chee Hong Tat: Mr Speaker, I thank the hon Member for his supplementary question. I welcome his question. The zero-tolerance approach that we take is towards abusive behaviours by a small number of commuters. Mr Saktiandi has touched on a very important point, which is that this requires the collective effort of Government, operators, unions and I will add commuters too. All of us as stakeholders in this public transport system can play our role. For the on-going review that we are conducting with the operators and the unions, I would welcome further suggestions on what are some of the specific measures we can put in place to offer greater protection to our frontline workers.

Mr Speaker: Mr Melvin Yong.

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Radin Mas): Mr Speaker, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply and his assurance that the Government takes a serious view on abuse cases against our public transport workers while on duty.

I declare myself as the Executive Secretary of the National Transport Workers' Union. The Union is currently working with the respective public transport operators to resume trials on installing a protective shield on our public buses.

Since the Senior Minister of State asked what other suggestions we may have, we aim to address the feedback and shortcoming surfaced in a previous trial in 2018, which the LTA was involved. I would like to ask if the LTA will support scaling the installation of such protective shields across all our public buses should the current trial find a suitable model to do so?

Mr Chee Hong Tat: Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Mr Melvin Yong. This suggestion from the unions is currently being discussed with the operators. We would also take feedback from our bus captains because they are the ones who will be using this. When this safeguard is in place, they will be the ones who are going to use it daily. I think an important consideration when we ask the bus captains for their feedback, will be to ensure that the installation of these protective shields will not interfere with the safety when they are driving the buses. I think that is a very key consideration. We will also get their feedback, because I think previously the trials showed that when you put some of these protective shields in place, there was a bit of glare that affected the drivers, the bus captains. So, we will also have to look at that because, ultimately, this is for both the protection and safety of the bus captains and also for the safety of commuters.