Some 300 personal mobility device riders showed up for the dialogue session in Sengkang West on Nov. 13 to let off some steam and listen to what the ward's MP Lam Pin Min, who is Senior Minister of State for Transport, had to say.

No riders showed up

However, that same sized crowd was nowhere to be found at the Teck Ghee ward the next day on Nov. 14, where a Meet-the-People Session (MPS) was held at Block 322, Ang Mo Kio Ave 3.

This was the same location where 50 PMD showed up on Nov. 7, hoping to speak to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, or any Ang Mo Kio GRC MP.

This time, MP Ang Hee Kin, who is assistant director-general of National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), made an appearance.

Ironically, no PMD rider or food delivery personnel showed up, save for regular residents who were there to meet their MP for other matters.

It appears as if the PMD users were resigned to fate that the e-scooter ban will not be reversed even after the multiple MPS meetings the past week.

Food delivery companies grew in a "hyperbolic jump"

Ang spoke to the media about his perspective on the e-scooter footpath ban, and the gripes of food delivery workers, who suddenly find themselves severely impacted by this ban.

Diagnosing the root of the issue, Ang said that the market for food delivery services expanded quickly over the last three years, which caused problems

He said: "[There is] a lot of willingness from households to buy the services, and for the restaurants to put themselves on the platform, and riders have the convenience to come in. This thing grew to a size today that offers great convenience and great options for those who want to look for a job, look for convenience and food."

However, he explained the food delivery service grew too big, too fast, and that the "rush for market share" and "incentive schemes" had created unforeseen circumstances, such as conflicts with existing players.

Ang said: "This was not [done in] an incremental manner. It was a hyperbolic jump. Like the proliferation of shared bikes and the likes of it."

"Technology has brought great convenience but along the way of the technology, the business model that supported the technology probably didn't quite anticipate a lot of the unintended consequences", he said.

Business scales but at cost to society?

To illustrate his point, Ang alluded to the example of the conflict between taxi drivers and private-hire drivers, along with hotel owners and Airbnb.

"In their rush to get market share -- get riders and drivers, to provide convenience, to get outlets -- they promise a lot of things lah. By nature of their business, they're supposed to do that, but they didn't quite anticipate the consequences," Ang added.

But unlike cars on the road, where there is an existing regulatory framework, Ang pointed out that there was not a preceding framework for food delivery services to evolve at a sustainable pace.

"Unintended consequences of proliferation [such as when] people leave it here, behind, some who are reckless in the way they use it, etc, if anyone has foreseen them, they would have stopped it in the first place. But where else have you seen [the] precedence to know how to anticipate [what would happen]?"

Food delivery a "job option that was highly flexible"

Ang admitted that food delivery companies don't just provide one service, and with a whole array of services, it "suddenly makes it more viable for people to earn [from it] in a full-time manner".

Furthermore, Ang noted that this demand for their services created a "job option that was highly flexible".

Ang mentioned that freelancers make up a significant part of our workforce, including those who do private-hire and part-time work, with 10 per cent, or one in 10 people working as a freelancer in Singapore.

This demonstrated its viability.

"More than 85 percent of them (doing freelance work) say that they voluntarily enter into a freelance career... more than 85 percent said that they walked into this job with their eyes wide open," Ang said.

"So those were the people who sort of found career options inside this space of disruptive technology, we saw how many people become private hire car driver, how many people became food deliver[ers] so it definitely created career options for those who need it for one reason or another."

However, Ang also mentioned that freelancers may also be committed to different vocations or careers at any one time and that freelancing was a way to monetise one's time based on their skill set.

Union to represent the delivery riders

Ang also emphasised that NTUC has made known its desire to represent the riders.

He said they have been approached by the riders and is currently collating the members to form an association to represent them.

The association would listen to the concerns and issues of riders, gather the views from them and articulate these concerns to the food delivery companies and government agencies, such as Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the police.

The union will be able to assist riders by helping them with the cost of living, their children's education costs, insurance coverage, which are the usual benefits available to the current members under NTUC.

Ang also noted that riders being "unhappy today is a very understandable position".

"Their past experience may have landed them into this particular job, whether it's family circumstances or individual needs," Ang said, noting that being a rider has become "a career choice which offers them what they currently are happy with".

"We are surfacing all the views. I think the views have been heard by MOT (Ministry of Transport) and LTA", he said.

For those who want to find a different job but experience financial difficulties while receiving training, the union can work with government agencies to channel funds, allowance and training cost, Ang said.

He noted that this is not unusual, and this should be conveyed to those contemplating a career switch.

Ang also brought up the Grab e-scooter trade-in programme, which commences on Nov. 15.

He said he has noticed that the other two operators, FoodPanda and Deliveroo, have not made any announcement about undertaking a similar option for their riders, and he hopes they can do so soon.

Top image via Jane Stephanie

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