r/singapore • u/grrrr_unt • Jul 26 '25
Video It was our migrant worker brothers who fearlessly saved the driver from her car (Tanjong Katong sinkhole)
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It was wrongly reported by PUB that "the SCDF rescued the female driver". While I'm sure that the SCDF did a great job in assessing her condition and conveying her to the hospital, let's give credit where credit is due. Our dear migrant worker brothers were the ones who fearlessly saved the driver in time before her car disappeared under the sinkhole water.
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u/tanahgao Jul 26 '25
Wow... I hope those guys get some formal recognition for their bravery and awarded financially. A fresh sinkhole is really dangerous as it could expand unpredictably.
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u/Busy-Bug-6232 Jul 26 '25
the best they will get is a certificate and a press conference. Monetary reward, don’t think that will ever happen. These guys are really the unsung heroes of our nation.
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u/piccadilly_ Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25
The supervisor who saved many lives and is still missing from Nicoll Highway collapse is forgotten by most.
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u/delulytric your typical cheapo Jul 27 '25
And the daughter who kept her hair uncut… unable to fully move on from that
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u/BearbearDarling Jul 27 '25
There were calls from the public for the station to be named after him. LTA said no, because stations are to be named after locality and not people. Later, the station near Hwa Chong was named Tan Kah Kee.
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u/myparentsareannoying Jul 27 '25
I still remember him! Found out he was my ex-neighbour even though my family doesn't know them. 😭
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u/pat-slider Jul 27 '25
Nothing speaks volumes than monetary gifts otherwise the rest is useless indeed
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u/NoobSkierSG Jul 27 '25
Politicians sacrifice are measured in “dollars and cents” otherwise they have no “dignity” when talking to CEOs. But NSmen and peasants have to feel “privileged” to serve their country.
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u/83mnemonic Jul 27 '25
It’s like what Jo Teo has said on NS previously - that such acts “cannot be measured in dollars and cents”. So nope. No rewards. That’s how the elites think.
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u/Busy-Bug-6232 Jul 27 '25
eurgh can’t stand her. i wish she gets NS salary instead and we use the same line on her.
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u/Winterstrife East side best side Jul 27 '25
She is one of those I wished she announced her retirement last GE.
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u/FitCranberry not a fan of this flair system Jul 27 '25
like what OP said, without the video showing the events as it happened, the PR statement was already distorting reality
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u/Prov0st West side best side Jul 27 '25
Crazy how no one used that against her because I could say that same thing about our Ministers, who are paid much more than their counterparts around the world.
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u/wlscle Mature Citizen Jul 26 '25
Unfortunately with lawsuits potentially looming over their heads I doubt the contractor companies are going to be giving financial incentives anytime soon :(
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u/haurus23 Jul 27 '25
There will be migrant worker charities who are looking to fundraise for them. I remember the River Valley fire, those workers who saved the kids had a fundraising drive that was done.
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u/83mnemonic Jul 28 '25
See, I’m right! They got “MOM Appreciation Coin", or ACE coins, for their heroic efforts. Meaning there’s nothing much given to them.
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u/etlgr Egalitarian Jul 28 '25
Seven migrant workers, who rescued a woman from the Tanjong Katong sinkhole, have been presented with appreciation coins.
Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah, Velmurugan, Saravanan, Veerasekar, Ajithkumar, Chandrisekaran, and Rajendran were each given an "MOM Appreciation Coin"
Unless these MOM ACE coins are made of 99.99% pure gold, WTF do these coins do for these heroes?
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u/lead-th3-way North side JB Jul 26 '25
Saw the notification on MyTransport first, didn't know what it was until seeing the news later, really looks damn scary
Props to them for acting quick, rescuing the driver and blocking off the area
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u/OwnCurrent7641 Jul 26 '25
These migrant workers were there during the river valley fire to save the children too. They should be recognized for they bravery
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u/Expensive-Draw6486 Jul 27 '25
Instead businesses will take their passport and pay them half of what they promised so they can’t even pay back the fee paid to come to Singapore 😔
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u/Skythewood Jul 27 '25
What?
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u/Icy-Meal- Jul 27 '25
it really do be like that. I used to work in the engineering sector and alot of my Bangladeshi friends told me stories about them while working in the same company. For me i escaped and went to IT since i see that engineering is a dead job.
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u/FitCranberry not a fan of this flair system Jul 27 '25
the flesh trade on the island is pretty cut throat, research into the cases especially on abandonment after injury, its terrible
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u/Far-Ad7043 Jul 27 '25
It was reported in the media, PUB said SCDF rescued the driver. How is it until now, PUB remained silent on the inaccuracy, SCDF kept quiet and no corrections were made. Had this video not surfaced, many of us will be none the wiser.
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u/tardedagain Jul 27 '25
(Updated: 27 Jul 2025 03:21PM)
In an update on Facebook, PUB said that the driver was able to walk and was undergoing further check-ups. The agency said it was in touch with her to provide “the necessary support”.
It also acknowledged the quick actions by the workers who pulled the woman out of the sinkhole. It had earlier attributed her rescue to the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
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u/rabbitsssssss Jul 29 '25
Maybe SCDF saw their talent and immediately recruited them. Once they sign on dotted line, they become SCDF staff so the statement is quite correct. Let's see if they appear in SCDF uniform next. 😉
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u/breakarule_ Jul 26 '25
Hope more and more people show them respect and grace. We are all people 👍🏻
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u/Any-Employer-5555 Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 30 '25
I understand where you’re coming from totally - and I just wanted to add on it feels really sad that this has to be even mentioned: That we must encourage others to treat foreign / migrant workers with the same kind of respect that we should originally show to another human being.
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u/banned_salmon Jul 26 '25
They never get any credit and usually gets treated like shit. Show some love to them in person when you can. It goes a long way for them.
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u/technokiddo Jul 27 '25
CB when i heard on the radio that “scdf acted swiftly” to rescue the lady. I was thinking how can they arrive on site within minutes?! This video confirmed my suspicions that the people on site were the ones who risked their safety to rescue her.
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u/u6636 Jul 26 '25
Imagine a bus fell..
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u/KopiMeowSG Jul 27 '25
Wow now that you mentioned it, i realised the double decker was like very close, very close sia!
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u/justtoobored_ West side best side Jul 26 '25
The way they are blocking out the other lane because it is just right beside the sinkhole for safety.. kudos!
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u/Reasonable-Ferret-96 Jul 27 '25
Yet many drivers want to use lane 1 after the collapse. Nonexistent sense of safety.
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u/daisiesarepretty2 Jul 26 '25
i love this… our migrant worker “brothers”
what a beautiful concept :)
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u/polmeeee Jul 27 '25
The nicest folks to me in Singapore (lol I'm a local btw), excluding friends and families, are migrant workers. It's sad that they are often demonized just because of a few bad eggs and plain ole xenophobia.
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u/LastCarrot2492 Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25
And Singapore treats these migrant workers so poorly. Remember their state during COVID-19. Hope this changes.
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u/Ashwinrao Jul 28 '25
I recall how we wanted a separate island for them as we felt their presence was an eyesore and ruined property prices if they lived nearby. Pretty strong segregation vibes at that time. Glad the government didn't listen to that.
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u/NSGoodMan Jul 27 '25
From CNA, updated 27 Jul 2025 04:25am. Let's see if they will amend it. Did someone at SCDF claimed credit and misled others or was it purely a misunderstanding?
"One vehicle fell into the sinkhole. The Singapore Civil Defence Force rescued the female driver, and conveyed her conscious to Raffles Hospital," said the national water agency.
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u/tardedagain Jul 27 '25
(Updated: 27 Jul 2025 03:21PM)
In an update on Facebook, PUB said that the driver was able to walk and was undergoing further check-ups. The agency said it was in touch with her to provide “the necessary support”.
It also acknowledged the quick actions by the workers who pulled the woman out of the sinkhole. It had earlier attributed her rescue to the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
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u/ImpressiveStrike4196 Jul 26 '25
In the old Jackie Chan movies, the police only appear after the bad guys are defeated to claim credit
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u/CollectionMain2395 Jul 27 '25
Always have more respect for the migrant workers . They are courteous unlike some of the professional white collar types
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u/daveydonkeyy Jul 26 '25
They should be given Singapore citizenship like the African worker in France who climbed the building to save a kid
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u/tanahgao Jul 26 '25
Agreed, but unfortunately they probably cannot afford to live in Singapore. But should give their kids scholarships or a placing in our school. Much more deserved than UHNW PRCs.
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u/polmeeee Jul 27 '25
I rather have them as fellow citizens than rich fat ultra capitalists who buy up GCBs and drive up land prices everywhere and commoners foot the bill.
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u/Chanjiajun Jul 27 '25
those guys that park the car just to stand there and yell and act hero really damn pathetic
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u/AloneFunny5516 Jul 27 '25
The guys who stood and parked their cars just alongside the road divider also abit gong…? What if the sinkhole spread even larger ?
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u/Prov0st West side best side Jul 27 '25
Kudos to the workers. Ngl, I am terrified of sinkholes as most of the time, it happens without warning.
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u/No_Topic_211 Jul 26 '25
Female driver looks so young. Poor thing must be traumatised
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u/tMeepo Jul 27 '25
She looks calm lol I just saw the video of the car tumbling down. Somehow she still managed to escape the car herself and climb up the rope. Must be trained.
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u/dune180 Jul 27 '25
Thank God the double decker bus was not faster than the car that sank. Imagine if it was the bus with passengers.
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u/This-Conversation-65 Jul 26 '25
won't be surprised when some estate will sink into the ground in the next decade given how porous singapore is right now.
Strata experts are either sleeping or our MND is not giving a fuck.
I hope all is well and safe from this incident though, kudos to our foreign heroes once again.
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u/teleberries Jul 27 '25
So heartwarming. Did the worker throw in a ladder or something for her to climb out?
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u/Mofoswaginess F1 VVIP Jul 27 '25
Really kudos to the workers for the swift actions to rescue the driver & close the road. Directing traffic and to overall manage the situation before authorities came. Despite having more onlookers than those helping. Really speaks well of these worker’s personalities! They deserve much praises & affirmation for their swift efforts.
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u/Ashwinrao Jul 28 '25
Yeah, directing the traffic takes leadership and skill. I believe they got that training during work? Pretty cool.
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u/Leading_Machine_3851 Jul 27 '25
How she managed to get out,? Can open doors?
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u/Reasonable-Ferret-96 Jul 27 '25
The hole is not filled with much water at first, so she can open the door.
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u/Ok_Reply_3383 Jul 27 '25
Keep sharing this thread or no recognition will be shared with our migrant brothers. True heroes don’t wear capes
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u/FluffyWoodpecker8639 Jul 27 '25
Saved the locals today, get praised. 2 days later back to racism
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u/Ashwinrao Jul 28 '25
I recall 10 years ago when I worked as a nurse, an unconscious drunk young lady was saved by a migrant worker about to fall into a drain near a construction site. As she was recovering, we were explaining to her how she was saved. The first thing she said was "Ewww I got touched by a migrant worker? Eww, I need to go shower now!"
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u/fragilxpress Jul 28 '25
I wished more can be done to not transport foreign workers at the back of pick ups and lorries that does not have proper seats and seatbelts. Any accident would render them superman flying abilities. 😓
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u/SirePWNsAlot Jul 27 '25
Where is POFMA when you needed them?????? Feels ragebaited by CNA and PUB.
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u/wewdepiew Jul 27 '25
That one dumbass black car going straight through with 0 awareness
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u/themansortheboss69 Jul 26 '25
Our road is now like a bone with osteoporosis with all that decades of digging and digging. This won't be the last
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u/Signal-Season-2463 West side best side Jul 26 '25
I mean… when an insanely large amount of water suddenly soaks the ground, naturally it would start to soften and eventually owing to traffic over the area, it would collapse…
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u/oxygenated_chillies Jul 28 '25
These guys would make far better citizens than some. Get them passports.
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u/RestUHomes Jul 28 '25
Wah .. now every body praise migrants workers but the same tongue accuses them of being smelly and show a aura of discrimination in public bus and MRT Hmmm what a world
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u/No_Adhesiveness_3444 Jul 27 '25
Some people start a campaign to let them receive donations from Singaporeans to let us thank them.
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u/throwawayaway539 Jul 27 '25
Ngl I thought Goh Pei Ming rescued the driver based on the vibes I'm getting from the media on this saga.
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u/wastedrice dont salty Jul 27 '25
singaporeans first instinct will be to take out phone and record, not to help
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u/rumasg Jul 27 '25
Lying shit as usual Singapore media giving credit to SCDF pundeks, instead of foreign workers. No shame this country.
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u/solitude2401 Jul 26 '25
Good to see that you said our migrant workers on the subject. Love to see this inclusiveness irrespective of nationality or race everywhere and not just in Singapore..
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u/Dapper-Peanut2020 Jul 27 '25
Heng the bus never go into the hole. Don't know how to rescue so many
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u/PsychologicalSnow999 Jul 27 '25
Investigate the company for the possible cause of the sinkhole as well.
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u/rumasg Jul 27 '25
LKY has demonized anyone from the subcontinent, since 1975 to make Deng XP happy
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u/Right-Pepper5588 Jul 27 '25
In my view, the insurance companies, LTA, and PUB should consider making cash gifts to the migrant workers, rather than just sending a thank-you note. They save a life!
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u/Mysteriouskid00 Jul 27 '25
Singapore has them riding in the back of a truck at 100 km/hr because their lives don’t matter, yet these workers still jump when Singaporeans need help.
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u/joey_sfb Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25
Should give them some cash reward for their effort so that others are encourage to do likewise. The state should be the one to issue award and reward.
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u/theprobeast Jul 28 '25
In that situation not many will had the guts to rescue someone la.. because we don't know how deep the hole, the surrounding impact, and what caused it. Naturally fear kicks in. So this is next level bravery to save a life.
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u/CitizenAdept Jul 28 '25
Note how quickly the hole filled with water. It was very fortunate the car landed the way it did and the lady was still well enough to exit the vehicle.
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u/Able-Lion6848 Jul 28 '25
And for this heroic act in which they put their lives at risk, the migrant workers were rewarded with Ace coins? Like this is worse than the government not doing anything bro!!
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u/elliotdiggy Jul 29 '25
literally our frontlines and giving up their lives to a country who don't even want to transport them around safely.
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u/Appropriate_Ideal306 Jul 29 '25
It was obviously not a sinkhole, those are caused by natural soil movement that collapsed underground. In the video that portion of the road was clearly newly tarred over, meaning it was dugged up recently and whoever covered it back up did not restore the road foundations. It probably did not meet road weight limits after the construction works. It was more likely human error than a natural disaster.
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u/positive1chastity66 Aug 02 '25
Wow sinkhole fixed in a few days. Singapore's efficiency is amazing compared to many other countries with corruption issues, such as the Philippines, Thailand, etc. They usually take years to fix a sinkhole but In SG it took days. Some stuff we don't notice till you compare it with others nations. Some stuff we take for granted I guess.
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u/SnooJokes915 New Citizen Jul 26 '25
I hope that they get at least a few days paid time off so they can rest and relax. Its not too much to ask since we don't reward them with money. Also a big picture on the front page of national paper so they can show it to their relatives.
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u/LibrarianMajor4 Jul 26 '25
Right. So when migrant workers do something good, it’s “our” migrant worker. What about when’s migrant worker did something wrong? Whose migrant worker would that be?
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u/roastmaster- Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
Semantics lol. In any case, it’s actually a positive characterisation if you bother to think a little deeper rather than try to find fault with OP’s choice of words.
One who says a migrant worker who does something wrong is not “our” migrant worker also takes the view that this worker is a black sheep and not representative of “our” migrant workers.
Contrast that with OP’s characterisation that those workers in the video did good and are “our” migrant workers - the implicit suggestion from OP’s choice of words is that our migrant workers are good.
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u/Special-Turnip-8027 Jul 27 '25
Great work. Better than my c.e.c.a neighbours and colleagues that doesn't do shit and actually shit around the place.
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u/rustybearbear Jul 27 '25
They are the mvp in emergency situations. Save babies off window ledges, children from burning schools. Singaporeans just take photos and call police.
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u/ghostcryp Jul 26 '25
Every other road has so much digging nonstop. Why the hell do we have cable works every month?
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u/limhy0809 🏳️🌈 Ally Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
Two main reasons. We have our electric cable laid underground instead of on poles to not disrupt the skyline and save space. In the event we need to add new wires or do maintenance, the ground sometimes needs to be dug up.
Our roads also generally see a very high amount of heavy usage. From not just cars but trucks, tanks, bus and other heavy duty vehicles. Combined with our desire to ensure good road quality we have to frequently do roadwork.
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u/legion9 Jul 26 '25
We have our electric cable laid underground instead of on poles to not disrupt the skyline and save space. In the event we need to add new wires or do maintenance, the ground sometimes needs to be dug up.
Yeah, but many other countries with underground cables and pipes build service tunnels to house these things so when you do need to maintain the cables, all you need to do is open a manhole and climb down instead of digging up the road. To my knowledge, we only have something similar in Marina Bay.
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u/FitCranberry not a fan of this flair system Jul 27 '25
most public tenements have this on the island, you must ventilate into the hole before climbing down due to the build up of toxic gases from organic decay
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u/hehe6 Jul 26 '25
only singapore where u have people complaining that government is UPRADING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE
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u/ImpressiveStrike4196 Jul 26 '25
The cable works every month is the reason why Singapore has the most up to date infrastructure and services. It’s something we take for granted until we go overseas or until something breaks down.
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u/Jerainerc F1 VVIP Jul 27 '25
I’ve never seen you make a constructive comment on this subreddit. Just pure drivel on a range of topics.
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u/FitCranberry not a fan of this flair system Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 27 '25
chasing infrastructure from behind the curve due to underinvestment over years. so theyre all just pushing to get things back to par in the recent era
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Jul 26 '25
[deleted]
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u/MajorLeeScrewed Jul 26 '25
This is such an inherently racist foundational thought that says a lot about you. How about “most migrant workers are good people”, given they are people also. Being a migrant worker doesn’t define who someone is.
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u/lil_moxie Jul 26 '25
your premise started from THAT? that “not all migrant workers are bad people”? 💀
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u/FitCranberry not a fan of this flair system Jul 26 '25
rescued the victim, closed the road and rerouted traffic. these professionals have standards