Opening Address by Senior Minister of State Dr Amy Khor at the Public Transport Safety and Security Awards Day

Mr Melvin Yong, Executive Secretary of NTWU
Mr Jeremy Yap, DCE of LTA
Distinguished guests,
Award recipients, Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.     A very good morning to all of you. I am delighted to be here for the Public Transport Safety and Security Awards Day. Let me begin by expressing my appreciation to our transport workers, union leaders, industry partners, and operators for your dedication to keeping our public transport and point-to-point transport systems safe and secure.

2.     As we come together this morning to recognize the efforts of our transport operators and workers, I would like to take this opportunity to commend SMRT who are currently working hard to resolve a safety incident.

3.     Earlier this morning at around 2 am, a vigilant SMRT maintenance staff, Mr Muhammad Arffin, detected a crack in the rail tracks. His sharp observation and timely alert triggered a series of preventive measures - SMRT quickly put out travel advisories and provided free shuttle buses as alternatives while the engineers looked to rectify the situation, to allow safe and quick resumption of rail services. This is an excellent example of how each and everyone in the transport ecosystem has a big role in ensuring the safety and security of our commuters.

4.     Today, we will recognise over 50 awardees across 5 categories. Their courage, determination, and resourcefulness reflect their commitment to safety and security which have undoubtedly made a difference for our commuters. 

Caring for Commuter Safety

5.     Our transport workers play a crucial role in ensuring the safety of the millions of commuters travelling across our network every day. Commuters rely on public transport to go to work, attend school, complete errands, meet up and spend time with friends and loved ones. They rely on you to make sure that they will reach their destinations smoothly and safely, and they can go about their lives with confidence.

6.     With a growing transportation network, more commuters and journeys, this task of protecting our commuters is more challenging than ever. Fortunately, our dedicated transport workers are always on the lookout, ready to assist commuters. One example is Ms Nurrul’ Izzah Bte Omar, a SMRT Train Service Controller for the Bukit Panjang LRT. Through the CCTV, Ms Izzah had observed a commuter standing on the yellow line and having his foot near the edge of the LRT platform. She alerted her colleague immediately to hold the incoming train and made a public announcement for commuters to stand behind the yellow line. Ms Izzah also activated Assistant Station Manager, Mr Luqman, to check on the commuter. After finding out that the commuter was on the autism spectrum, Ms Izzah suggested that Mr Luqman accompany the commuter until he had boarded the train. She further informed Assistant Station Manager, Mr Irfan, who was onboard the train to ensure that the commuter tapped out safely at his destination.

7.     Ms Izzah’s vigilance and swift action prevented a potentially serious injury. More than that, the attentiveness and care shown by our workers, going the extra mile for the commuter, ensures that our PT system is not only safe, but also inclusive for commuters from all walks of life. 

Caring for Workers’ Safety

8.     Let me now touch on a second very important area - the well-being of our dedicated workers. Before we can keep others safe, we must be able to take care of ourselves.

9.     Today’s awardees have exemplified dedication and creative thinking in their pursuit of safe and efficient work practices. Their efforts have minimised the potential for workplace injuries to themselves and their colleagues.

10.    In this regard, we must remain vigilant and help to watch out for one another. The number of workplace injuries for bus operations has increased from 27 to 32 from January to June this year over the same period last year. The number of workplace injuries for rail operations has also increased from 6 to 17 over the same period. As such, I would like to urge everyone to work together and make workplace safety a top priority, and as part of our commitment to our workers and their families. 

11.    We can look at how technology can improve our work processes and safety, and at the same time keep a look out for how safety challenges can be overcome by simple yet effective methods.  This is where the practical experience of our staff comes in. We have a good example from the team led by Mr Chan Kim Hoong, Assistant Manager with SBS Transit. The team identified a potential fall hazard for staff working on train doors, and proactively developed a train door maintenance platform to bridge this gap safely.

Caring for National Security

12.    I’ve spoken about two important areas today – ensuring the safety of our commuters and safeguarding our dedicated workers. Last but not least, we also need to ensure the security of our commuters, workers, and the infrastructure that we use to provide our services. This is about keeping not just our workers and commuters safe, but also doing our part to keep the community around us safe.

13.    For this, we can learn from the team effort of workers from across two operators: Mr Chong Siaw Chui and Mr Chong Ren Haur from SBS Transit, and Mr Mohd Faisal and Mr Mahendran from Tower Transit Singapore. On 13 December 2022, the four of them took action to subdue a male individual, who had unlawfully entered the bus park at Yishun Bus Interchange and began throwing a portable fire extinguisher, a bin and sticks, damaging our public buses.

14.    Their bravery and swift actions prevented their colleagues and any commuter from being seriously harmed, and averted further damage to property. Thank you Siaw Chui, Ren Haur, Faisal and Mahendran for your vigilance in keeping Singapore safe and secure.

Working Together to Enhance Safety and Security 

15.    Our award recipients have shown us what a firm commitment to safety and security looks like. Our tripartite partnership is the crucial cornerstone in this collective endeavour. We must empower those on the frontline, and create the culture and processes that allow our workers the confidence to make safety and security an integral part of their work.

16.    One critical aspect of this is making sure that workers do not hesitate to voice their concerns and ideas about safety and security. They must be assured that their feedback will be taken seriously by their supervisors and management, and that they will have the support to implement ground-up ideas to make their workplace safer and more secure. 

17.    I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our Safety Champions. Your role within this tripartite partnership is crucial, as you consistently surface valuable feedback and pinpoint areas for safety enhancement. I strongly encourage more public transport workers and union leaders to step up and take on the role of Safety Champions. 

18.    Once again, my heartiest congratulations to all our award recipients, both the individuals and organizations. Safety is everyone’s responsibility, and must always remain our foremost priority, never to be jeopardized.

19.    Let us work together to keep Singapore moving, safely and securely.  Thank you.