On 12 November, Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam conducted his second dialogue session at Chong Pang Community Club.
The first one only garnered around 30 personal mobility device (PMD) riders. This time, around 150 PMD riders showed up.
If you’re wondering what’s all the hubbub about, watch this video first before continuing:
Shanmugam Says PMD Ban Should Be Fair To Everyone & Delivery Riders Can’t Get Special Treatment
Note: The picture above was from the previous session.
The session lasted around 70 minutes and started at 9.25pm. The session was spent answering questions from affected residents.
He stressed that he wanted to focus on how the government can help those who are affected, rather than have a debate with regards to the PMD ban.
There’s A Need To Be Fair To Everyone
Shanmugam reiterated multiple times that at the core, it’s imperative to be fair to all stakeholders involved.
This means that he cannot take the side of both the pedestrian and the PMD riders.
He also asked, “Now, many of you tell me, you are responsible, this is because of some people who are not responsible. True. But how do I know who is going to be responsible, or who is not going to be responsible?”
He also raises a fair point: “We have to be fair to them (victims of PMD-related accidents)… it can be your children, can be your mother, can be anybody, how do we help them? So at the same time, we cannot say we help them, forget about you. So we have to help you also.”
When one PMD rider complained and said she was very unhappy about the changes, Shanmugam replied, “I can’t make you happy. I can only try to be fair. ”
Unfair To Only Allow Delivery Riders To Use PMDs
Look at a PMD related article and you’ll easily spot multiple netizens providing useful suggestions.
One of them is that only food delivery riders should be allowed to use PMDs to make deliveries or that they should be able to obtain a license of some sort.
One of the PMD users present also said that she was a mom who sent her children to school. Some PMD user had asked that the law allows for some groups of people to use PMDs on footpaths.
And to that, Shanmugam has an answer:
“Can I say food delivery can use PMD, nobody else can use PMD? Is that possible? If I did that, what do you think would happen? Is it fair? Or can I say parents can use their PMDs to send their children to school, nobody else can? You will complain. Not fair right?”
Received Many Feedback From Residents In Past Months That Footpaths Are For People To Walk On
While the ban has certainly caused those who have become reliant on PMDs, he asserts that the safety of people who are walking on footpaths should be the priority.
This was a result of a large number of PMD-related accidents that have taken place.
Shanmugam also said that the government will figure out how to help those who use PMDs for a living.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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