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Beijing bid to cool crash fury
Beijing urged its citizens to respect Singapore's laws after footage of a deadly car crash caused by a Chinese expatriate driving a Ferrari drew more than one million hits on YouTube.
"We are saddened and regret this unfortunate accident," Wen Penghui, the Chinese embassy's first secretary, said in a letter published in the Straits Times.
"We hope that Chinese citizens living in Singapore will respect life, value the safety of themselves and others, abide by its laws and regulations, and live responsibly and gracefully."
Chinese immigrants and workers in Singapore have come under scathing attack since Saturday's pre-dawn accident in which the Ferrari driver, a Singaporean cabbie and a Japanese taxi passenger were all killed.
Dramatic footage of the crash, taken by a camera on the dashboard of another taxi, showed the 31-year-old Ferrari driver, financial adviser Ma Chi, speeding through a red light several seconds after the signal had changed.
A reader said he calculated the Ferrari may have been traveling at more than 180 kilometers per hour.
Disgruntled locals have seized on the incident to attack the government's immigration polices. Foreigners make up almost a third of the population.
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