BUS captains rise before dawn to steer the first buses out of the depots by 5:45 each morning.

They drive all day and rarely receive thanks but are the first people commuters scold when things go wrong.

Mr Seng Han Thong (Ang Mo Kio GRC), the executive secretary of the National Transport Workers' Union, spoke up for them on Thursday during the debate on the budget for transport.

He expressed concern that more competition in the transport industry would hurt these workers' interests and welfare, and urged the Government not to award contracts for new bus routes based on price alone.

Such 'cheap sourcing' could drive down wages, or lead to bus operators hiring more lowly paid contract workers or foreign workers, said Mr Seng.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.