Forum: Impatient customers make delivery riders take risks
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A recent report highlighted how delivery riders in Singapore continue to rush to complete more jobs, even at personal risk, because their earnings depend on speed and volume (Delivery riders say it’s natural to push ahead to earn more despite safety risks, March 26).
The article noted that in 2025 alone, dozens of riders suffered serious injuries, with some cases involving life-altering consequences, and that customer expectations for fast delivery play a role in this behaviour.
Much of the discussion around such findings has centred on regulation, platform accountability, and worker protections. These are important and necessary. However, an overlooked dimension lies closer to home: the role of everyday consumer expectations in shaping these outcomes.
Singaporeans have grown accustomed to a high level of efficiency. Meals arrive quickly, services are seamless, and delays are increasingly viewed as unacceptable.
Yet this expectation does not exist in a vacuum. When speed becomes the default benchmark, it creates invisible pressure along the entire chain – particularly on those whose livelihoods depend on meeting these expectations.
The report makes clear that riders are responding not merely to platform incentives, but also to perceived customer demand. In other words, convenience is not just engineered by companies; it is reinforced by society.
Preference for faster delivery and low tolerance for delay contribute incrementally to a system where time saved by one party may translate into risk borne by another.
This raises a broader question about the kind of social compact we wish to uphold. Singapore has long emphasised shared responsibility – whether in public cleanliness, graciousness, or safety. Yet in the realm of digital convenience, this ethos appears less visible.
A possible way forward is to rethink convenience as a collective good rather than a purely individual entitlement. Small behavioural shifts such as opting for less urgent delivery slots, exercising patience, or even recognising the effort behind each service can help ease systemic pressures without sacrificing the benefits of innovation.
The sustainability of Singapore’s convenience-driven economy will depend not only on policy and platform design, but also on social norms. Efficiency has been one of our greatest strengths, but if left unchecked, it may come at the expense of empathy and shared responsibility.
Andrew Ee Changshun