Singapore ride-hailing service suspends Chinese driver for racist comments at passenger
Singapore: A Singapore-based Chinese cab driver who allegedly hurled racist comments at a woman and her daughter assuming she was of Indian origin has been suspended by the ride-hailing platform Tada, the company has said.
A spokesperson for the company said the action was taken against the driver following a thorough investigation into the incident, which was recorded on video by the passenger and her young daughter.
Last Saturday, Facebook user Jan Hoeden uploaded two videos that captured an argument between her and the driver, as well as a screenshot of the Tada app that showed the driver's face and her travel route.
Hoeden, who is 46 years old and of Eurasian origin, said in her post that the argument started when the driver "accused" her of giving him wrong directions. The woman claimed that she did not even advise or say anything to him.
As the conversation got more heated, the driver can be heard telling the passenger that she should not be "hao lian", or Teochew for boastful.
When Hoeden replied in Mandarin that she was not "hao lian", the driver began raising his voice and said, "You are Indian, I am Chinese." He later told Hoeden that she was "the very worst" customer, even as she told him repeatedly that she was not Indian but Eurasian.
In its statement on Tuesday, Tada said the driver's remarks that insinuated racial differences are "completely unacceptable" with the platform's community guidelines and ethos.
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'Low-quality' catheters supplied to West Bengal govt hospitals at high price, probe ordered
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal health department has launched a probe into the supplies of allegedly low-quality and locally made catheters at a high price to several government hospitals, posing a risk to the lives of patients undergoing treatment in these facilities, officials said.
Such central venous catheters (CVCs) were allegedly supplied to at least five medical colleges and hospitals in the state, defying allocation of international standard-compliant CVCs, they said.
The distribution company, which has been accused of supplying these catheters to government hospitals, admitted to the fault but placed the blame on its employees.
"We started checking stocks some time back and found these locally made CVCs in my hospital store. These catheters are of low quality as compared to those allocated by the state. We have informed the state health department," a senior official of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital told PTI.
Low-quality catheters were also found in the stores of other hospitals, which indicates "possible involvement of insiders in the scam", a health department official said.
The low-quality CVCs were supplied by a distributor in the Hatibagan area in the northern part of Kolkata for the last three to four months, he said.
"Such kinds of local CVCs are priced around Rs 1,500 but the distributor took Rs 4,177 for each device," the official said.
A CVC is a thin and flexible tube that is inserted into a vein to allow for the administration of fluids, blood, and other treatment. It's also clinically called a central line catheter.
"An initial probe revealed that the distribution company Prakash Surgical had supplied the low-quality and locally manufactured catheters to several government hospitals instead of the CVCs of the government-designated international company.
"All the units will be tested and a proper investigation is on to find out who benefited from these supplies," the health department official said.
The distribution company blamed its employees for the supply of inferior quality catheters.
"I was sick for a few months. Some employees of the organisation made this mistake. We are taking back all those units that have gone to the hospitals. It's all about misunderstanding," an official of the distribution company told PTI.
According to another state health department official, a complaint was lodged with the police in this connection.
Asked about how many patients were affected by the usage of such low-quality CVCs, the official said, "The probe would also try to find that out".
According to sources in the health department, some of the staff of the hospitals' equipment receiving departments and some local officials of international organisations might be involved in the alleged irregularities.
