FROM the outside, this school minibus looks overcrowded.

What you may not see are the pupils who are sometimes made to sit on its floor.

The minibus, which carries students of Naval Base Primary in Yishun, has a seating capacity of 17.

But yesterday, The New Paper counted 21 pupils boarding the bus.

Another three who could not get in were directed to board one of two bigger buses.

From what we saw, the children looked like they were packed like sardines inside the minibus. One sat on a raised platform near the door, facing the others.

The minibus also did not have seatbelts.

A case of flirting with danger?

When contacted over the phone later, the minibus driver, who operates all three buses, denied he had exceeded the seating capacity.

Giving his name only as Mr Chua, he initially said there were only 10 students on some days.

But when asked specifically about yesterday's passenger load, he said there were about 17 children.

When told we had counted 21, he replied: 'I'm not sure what the exact number was today, but I'm sure it was not 21.'

'NO COMPLAINTS'

As for pupils sitting on the floor, Mr Chua blamed it on them.

'The children like to sit everywhere even when they have seats. They like to play around and sit on the floor,' he said in Mandarin.

He said he had not received any complaints from parents about overcrowding or children having to sit on the floor in his minibus.

But a parent who uses Mr Chua's service confirmed that some pupils were occasionally asked to sit on the floor. The mother, who declined to be named, said: 'You can't tell from the outside that some of them are sitting on the floor.

'It gets better after the first few are dropped off.'

Her daughter said none of the pupils sat on the floor yesterday, but added that she has had to do so on a few occasions when there were not enough seats.

'It's uncomfortable and hard to balance when the minibus turns right or left because there's nothing to hold on to,' she said.

She said she preferred to stand but the driver did not allow them to.

'Uncle will shout at us if we stand,' said the girl, who added that she sat on the floor last week.

Her mother said she became more concerned about the students' safety following the death of Russell Koh, 8, who was flung out of a minibus after an accident last Thursday.

The minibus, which was involved in a collision with two cars at the junction of Yio Chu Kang Road and Gerald Drive, did not have seat belts.

Said the mother: 'In my daughter's case, not only does the minibus have no seat belts but there are also not enough seats for the children.

'It is very dangerous.'

She said she did not raise the matter with the driver as she was worried that her child might be blacklisted.

But her husband spoke to someone at the school about the matter last year.

She claimed there was an improvement when the school's operations manager checked over a few days, but the situation soon returned to what it was earlier.

'If business is that good, why not get another bus? I hope the school will look into this,' she said.

Attempts to contact the school's principal and vice-principal yesterday were unsuccessful.

The mother said she hoped that Russell's death would serve as a wake-up call to school transport providers.

She was also in favour of making seat belts compulsory.

'If they are compulsory, it would be obvious when a bus driver flouts the seating capacity. I'm willing to pay more. After all, it's for my daughter's safety,' she added.

The minibus driver confirmed that his buses did not have seat belts.

But he added that the operations manager had discussed with him on Monday the possibility of the Land Transport Authority (LTA) requiring seat belts to be installed in school buses.

According to LTA regulations, three children up to 12 years of age may occupy a double seat meant for two adults, while only one child may occupy a single seat.

Those who do not comply with LTA's safety requirements can be jailed up to three months or fined up to $1,000. Repeat offenders can be jailed up to six months or fined up to $2,000.

Chermaine Goh, newsroom intern

This article was first published in The New Paper on Apr 30, 2008.