Thoughts from a humid weekend in Singapore

       This weekend has been a one of much reflection for me, particularly the horrible accident which has been hogging the main papers this last week. You see, there was this accident along Victoria Street going towards Lavender Street and Rochor Road, which involved a Ferarri, a Comfort taxi, and a motorcycle. The Ferrari was driven by a Mr. Ma Chi, a 'financial investor' from Xiamen China. He was apparently driving at 200 km/hr and must have beaten several red lights. No matter, at 4.13 am on the morning of 12th May, he crashed, no hurtled into the taxi driven by a Mr. Cheng Teck Hock which had the right of way. To date, Ma, Mr. Cheng and the taxi driver's occupant, Miss. Shigemi Ito have died. The barrage of nasty comments aimed at the Ma family (they were from China, apparently very wealthy) in the wake of the accident has once again highlighted the rich - poor divide that has been festering in Singapore. 

       My absolute sympathies to the Cheng, Ito and even Ma families. Through the thoughtlessness of one person, Ma Chi, so may people have to be brought together to grieve. Many suggestions have been thrown up, such as ensuring that all supercar drivers undego additional defensive driving training, providing the 'Provisional driver' template and other suggestions. But in essence, the main issue is this. Drink driving. Initial reports suggest that the driver was smelling of alcohol when he was pulled out of the vehicle.  

      

      My suggestion for this is, to prevent  or at least minimise all future tragedies, for all entertainment establishments, KTV lounges, enforce and employ alcohol checkers say after 12 midnight. Mandate it, put it into law. Every one who leaves the establishment will be given a special breath check by the guy at the counter. If discos and entertainment establishments can have lines for checking people who reenter the place, they can do the same for everyone who leaves, say after a certain time. Midnight is my suggested witching hour.

      Draconian ? Loss of privacy ?  Well yes. however, this is a small price to pay compared to the innocent people who lost their lives, and worst still the innocent dependent families of the taxi driver, the unborn child and the family of the Japanese lady working here.