After the statement was published, the business associations and the fintech body drew significant flak online.

A widely shared post by Ms Tasha Enright asked the fintech association to “kindly explain why you have taken a position against banning lorries to transport foreign workers due to a total disregard for their safety and lives – a labour issue you have no skin in the game for”.

Former association member Zheng Huifen posted on the LinkedIn networking platform that she was “shocked and saddened” by its signing of the statement.

She said she had resigned her membership in protest, and wrote that she would not renew it unless the association rescinded its signature or provided “a good justification for this action”.

When contacted by CNA, Ms Zheng said: “I completely disagree with the practice of ferrying people on lorries, which is a dehumanising and discriminatory practice which treats people like mere tools without regard for their safety or dignity, and I can not be a member of an association which actively supports such activity.

“Even more so when I don’t see how the fintech sector is directly affected by a proposed ban of this practice, which seems to show that the (Singapore FinTech Association) is not in compliance with its mandate of representing Singapore’s fintech sector.”

The fast-growing fintech sector mainly deals with using technology to support and enable banking and financial services.