SINGAPORE (AP) — Singapore sentenced a
Chinese immigrant bus driver to six weeks in prison Monday for his involvement
in the city-state's first
labor strike in 26 years.
Pushing for the jail term as a deterrent,
the prosecution argued in court that although Bao Feng Shan, 38, was not an instigator of
the strike, he was "far from a mere passive participant."
The prosecution said a lenient approach may encourage others to think that
they can commit similar offences and "conveniently express remorse to escape
custodial sentence."
A total of 171 Chinese bus drivers went on
strike last Monday in protest at being paid nearly a quarter less than Malaysian
bus drivers who work for the same transport company.
More than half continued to protest on
Tuesday but the strike was over by Wednesday. It disrupted about 5 percent of
the city-state's bus services.
Walking off the job in protest is almost
unheard of in Singapore, which requires essential service workers such as bus
drivers to give 14 days' notice of a strike. The last strike was in 1986 by
shipyard workers.
Bo was one of five bus drivers charged for
involvement in the strike. The other four are scheduled to appear in court on
Thursday and are currently being held at the central police station.
If convicted, they can be fined up to
$2,000 and sentenced to up to a year in prison.
On Sunday, 29 other drivers had their
permits revoked and were deported to China. The government said a police
investigation found that the strike was premeditated and that the drivers had
been absent from work without reason.
Others involved in the unrest will be
issued warnings but no further action will be taken and they will be allowed to
remain and work in the country.
Singapore relies on hundreds of thousands
of immigrants from countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and China to work as
maids, construction workers and at other jobs deemed unappealing by many
locals.
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