Over 100,000 sign online petition calling for ban on Chinese nationals entering S’pore over Wuhan virus fears

Petition picking up steam.

Belmont Lay | January 28, 2020, 02:41 PM

More than 100,000 signatures have been put on an online petition calling on the government of Singapore, specifically the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), to "temporarily stop" Chinese nationals and travellers from China from entering the country.

The petition has been running for two days.

The petition was started by Anatasha Abdullah on Jan. 26, the day when Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed the fourth case of Wuhan virus.

The petition said:

"This petition is to urge the government to temporarily stop Chinese nationals and travellers from China from arriving on our shores.

Singapore is a small city, which makes us even more vulnerable to the spread of this epidemic throughout the whole country, and we do not need to wait for severe cases before we take action."

Malaysian petition

The Singapore petition follows an earlier online petition calling on the Malaysian government to ban Chinese nationals from entering the country over fears of the virus.

It gained over 398,000 signatures as of Jan. 28.

The petition, started by Muhammad Zaim Yusran Mohd Zaidy on Jan. 25, said there was an urgent need to prevent Chinese nationals from entering the country.

Petitions in Singapore

Singaporeans have used online petitions to register their views on a wide variety of issues concerning Singapore.

An online petition to show displeasure that the undergrad molester did not get jailed generated over 91,000 signatures.

A petition to allow PMD riders on footpaths garnered more than 25,000 signatures.

Facts on the ground

Singapore has so far confirmed five cases of the virus here.

The five patients are Chinese nationals.

However, there have been no reports of deaths caused by the virus.

Top image from Change.org.