Striker jailed for six weeks

More than 170 Chinese bus drivers went on strike last Monday in protest at being paid nearly 25 per cent less than Malaysian bus drivers working for the same company.

Half of them continued the protest for an additional day but the strike was over by Wednesday.

Walking off the job in protest is almost unheard of in Singapore, which requires essential service workers such as bus drivers to give 14 days' notice of a strike.

The last strike of any kind in the country was by shipyard workers in 1986.

Mr Bao was one of five bus drivers charged over their involvement in the strike.

The other four are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday and are currently being held at the central police station.

If convicted, they can be fined up to £1,245 and sentenced to up to one year in prison.

On Sunday, 29 other drivers had their permits revoked and were deported to China.

The government said that a police investigation had determined that the strike was premeditated and that the drivers had been absent from work without reason.

Others involved in the unrest will be issued warnings but no further action will be taken.

Singapore relies on hundreds of thousands of immigrants from countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and China to work as maids, construction workers and at other jobs deemed unappealing by many locals.