PM Lee, DPM Teo ‘saddened’ by Ferrari accident

Both Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean have taken to their Facebook pages to express sadness over the recent tragic accident in Bugis that claimed the lives of three and injured another two.

“At CCMC meeting tonite, (we’re) all sad and shocked at Ferrari-taxi crash,” wrote Teo on Wednesday. “Codolences to victims and families.”

“Deeply saddened by the unfortunate loss of lives,” Lee echoed on his own page on Thursday, sharing his deputy’s status.

Teo also said in his post that he had already “told TP (traffic police) to be tougher on speeding/reckless driving”.

He added that Singaporeans “shouldn’t blame all foreigners for this”.

Earlier this morning, The Straits Times published a letter from the Chinese embassy which told its citizens living in Singapore to “value the safety of themselves and others (and) abide by [the country’s] laws and regulations”.

The crash, which saw a wealthy Chinese expat slam his limited edition Ferrari into a taxi in the wee hours of Saturday morning, has since sparked outrage in Singapore, where anti-foreigner sentiment is on the rise.

Ma Chi, the 31-year-old driver of the sports car, was killed instantly. Both the taxi driver, Cheng Teck Hock, 51, and his passenger, 41-year-old Shigemi Ito, died in hospital later.

Many concerned members of the public have gone out of their way to pay their respects and make donations to help the family of Cheng. He was the sole breadwinner of the family and leaves behind a wife and three school-going children.

Said Teo, “(It’s) good that many Singaporeans and foreigners expressed sadness and gave support to families, in a common bond of humanity.”