In the aftermath of the Little India riot, Voices writers who have put forward the treatment of foreign workers, their happiness and their living environment as factors have missed the point.

These are not unimportant, but in what sense does a fatal but unintended road accident, low remuneration, exploitation by employers, et cetera, excuse rioting, which is a major crime because it breaches the maintenance of ordered liberty.

It is imperative that the daily life and safety of citizens are not imperilled by the senseless behaviour of those who resort to violence to satisfy base emotions.

They must be made to understand that such unlawful behaviour can never be condoned because of supposed unhappiness or emotional inclinations. Why were ambulance personnel attacked? They were there to help the accident victim.

Why were police attacked? They were there to restore order and to protect property and innocent people.

Indications point to a deliberate attempt to create havoc and allow violent instincts to flow.

Foreign workers’ living conditions, or other issues, cannot be used to give them immunity for these actions.

We do not need individuals, foreign or otherwise, to bring rioting back to Singapore after 40 years.

Those responsible for this riot must be sent home after they serve their penalties and never allowed back here. We do not need them even if they had helped to do jobs Singaporeans shun.

We can always find foreign workers who come to work and not to riot. Most of them are not rotten apples, and we must separate the wheat from the chaff.

The decent ones are welcome; the lawless ones are a cancer to us.

We must make the point that no one, foreign or local, is above the law.

Foreign workers can always seek redress through proper channels for their valid grouses. The riot is a warning to us to not be complacent.

I agree that we must treat foreign workers with respect and fairness.

However, there is a price to pay for lawlessness. Economists would say that if the price of an item is too high, less of it would be bought.