Naming alcohol consumption as a contributory factor to the riot, said the NSP, “ignores the flaws in the Government’s immigration and manpower policies and their impact on the social fabric of Singapore”. The NSP drew parallels between Sunday’s incident and 2012’s illegal strike held by SMRT bus drivers, and said that both served as “a wake-up call to the government”. “Not only do we need to re-look the extent of our dependency on foreign labour, we also need to urgently examine how well (or not) we are treating our foreign workers who have come to Singapore to earn a living for themselves and their families back home,” the statement said. It added: “If our Government fails to get to the root of the problem, the stressors and underlying factors which had caused the incident will only manifest itself in another, perhaps uglier way.” The NSP said it regretted the riot, as the rioters’ actions broke the law and the rule of law must be respected by all. The party also extended its condolences to the family of the traffic accident victim, Mr Sakthivel Kumaravelu, and commended the actions of the police and SCDF officers on Sunday, while condemning those who would use the incident to incite racial disharmony and xenophobia. — Today