Singapore Riot Signals Foreign-Labor Strains

Hundreds of Workers From South Asia Protest Killing of Indian Man

By CHUN HAN WONG
Updated Dec. 9, 2013 11:04 a.m. ET

Singapore's first riot in decades has raised the issue of tension between foreign workers and residents. The WSJ's Jake Maxwell Watts talks about what sparked the rare unrest.


SINGAPORE—A rare riot here, staged by hundreds of workers from South Asia, is reviving public concern about the socioeconomic impact and sustainability of Singapore's heavy reliance on overseas labor.


A riot in Singapore began after an Indian worker was hit and killed by a bus. European Pressphoto Agency

Sunday's incident in Singapore's Little India district—a popular weekend hangout for South Asian expatriates and migrant workers—ended a riot-free period extending more than four decades and has blotted the city-state's image as one of Asia's safest countries. Analysts and labor activists say the unrest points to a growing challenge for policy makers trying to maintain social cohesion and curb antiforeigner sentiment amid festering tensions among its large migrant workforce.

Police and eyewitnesses say the riot started at about 9:30 p.m. after a bus hit and killed a 33-year-old Indian man.

South Asian workers at the scene reacted by attacking the bus with sticks, stones and garbage bins, and later assaulted arriving police officers and paramedics, TV footage showed.

The violence was quelled by 11 p.m. by about 300 police officers—but not before injuries were inflicted on at least 39 law-enforcement and emergency-services personnel, as well as the driver and conductor aboard the bus in the accident.

Dozens of police, emergency-services and privately owned vehicles were damaged, including five vehicles that were burned.

Public violence is virtually unheard of in Singapore, where public assembly is strictly regulated. But "incidents like this were, in a sense, waiting to happen," especially given the dense weekend crowds in Little India numbering in the thousands, said Hui Weng Tat, an economic professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Some migrants' resentment against perceived discrimination and poor working conditions could have contributed to the outburst, Mr. Hui said, adding that policy makers may need to consider improving migrant pay and treatment.


Riot police stood guard after a riot broke out in Singapore's ethnic Indian district on Sunday after a fatal road accident. European Pressphoto Agency

"The workers who have been arrested in connection with the rioting incident are employed by different employers and housed in different locations. There is no basis to link their unlawful behavior to workplace issues," Singapore's Manpower Ministry said in response to queries. "In any case, whatever the cause, no one is above the law."

Police said they arrested 27 people—24 Indian nationals, two Bangladeshis and one Singapore permanent resident, ages 23 to 45—who haven't been named. It wasn't clear if and when the 27 may be charged, or whether they had received legal counsel. Authorities classified the violence as "rioting with dangerous weapons," an offense that carries penalties including up to 10 years' jail, as well as caning. More arrests could follow, police said.

Police arrested the bus driver in the accident—an unnamed 55-year-old Singaporean—and plan to charge the person with causing "death by a negligent act," an offense punishable by up to two years' jail and fines. The driver couldn't be reached for comment.

In a statement Monday, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he ordered an inquiry into "an isolated incident caused by an unruly mob." The probe will review factors behind the riot, including management of the incident by officials and how authorities oversee areas where foreign workers congregate, he said.

The riot has sparked concerns of further unrest amid the large foreign workforce, numbering about 1.3 million as of June, in this island state of 5.4 million people. Researchers say South Indians number in the hundreds of thousands here.

Singapore has used liberal immigration policies in the past decade to fuel economic growth, boosting its population by 27% in the past decade. Amid concern that such a growth model wasn't sustainable, the government has curbed inflows of foreigners over the past three to four years, hoping to assuage voters disgruntled by stagnant low-end wages, rising living costs and infrastructural strains, which many citizens blamed on high immigration.

Foreign workers have also increasingly bristled under the system. Some—particularly low-wage laborers in construction—have in recent years resorted to protests against alleged exploitation by employers, including an illegal strike last year by about 170 public-bus drivers hired from China, which ended a 26-year strike-free record for Singapore.

Prime Minister Lee sought to allay worries about the unrest. "The vast majority of foreign workers here obey our laws," he said in his statement. "We must not let this bad incident tarnish our views of foreigner workers here."

Police have avoided drawing conclusions on the cause of the riot. Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew suggested that alcohol might have been a factor, but labor activists countered that most low-wage foreigners can't afford much alcohol.

Police officials said they would "pay extra attention" to Little India, foreign-worker dormitories and other places of congregation.

Singapore last experienced a major riot in 1969, when racially charged violence broke out between the city-state's majority ethnic Chinese and minority Malay residents, leaving at least four dead and 80 injured.

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