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Fatal lorry crashes: Human lives, dignity cannot be measured in dollars and cents

In the recent debate about transporting migrant workers on the back of lorries, a frequent comment raised is that the alternative of safer transport would incur greater costs for construction companies and thus indirectly pass on these costs to consumers at the other end of the spectrum.

Road accidents involving migrant workers of late have sparked a debate about the safety of workers being transported on the back of lorries.

Road accidents involving migrant workers of late have sparked a debate about the safety of workers being transported on the back of lorries.

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In the recent debate about transporting migrant workers on the back of lorries, a frequent comment raised is that the alternative of safer transport would incur greater costs for construction companies and thus indirectly pass on these costs to consumers at the other end of the spectrum.

I find this argument difficult to swallow. 

In the book What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets by political philosopher Michael Sandel, he writes that placing a monetary value on something necessarily degrades it, reducing its value to something purely economic. 

I believe that well-meaning commentators are doing the same here. 

By relating the safety and fundamental dignity of migrant workers to monetary costs and profits, they are implicitly suggesting that human life and dignity can be measured in dollars and cents.

This degrades the value of the lives of migrant workers. 

Human dignity and life have inherent value greater than money; it is “what money can’t buy”, a principle of greater worth and value.

We also have to ask ourselves if we would do the same for our children and family. 

Would we place the lives or dignity of our family on the same weighing balance as monetary cost and benefit? 

If we would not, then we need to ask ourselves if we are treating migrant workers not just as lesser members of our society, but as lesser human beings. 

We must seriously reflect not only on the recent accidents involving migrant workers, but our response as a society to these events.

Have views on this issue or a news topic you care about? Send your letter to voices [at] mediacorp.com.sg with your full name, address and phone number.

Related topics

accident lorry Migrant Workers road safety

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