Wuhan coronavirus: S’pore imposed travel ban because of its size, situation and resources, says Shanmugam

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s decision to bar all new visitors who have been to China in the last 14 days from entering here is based on its situation, size and limited resources, and not based on nationality, said Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Sunday (Feb 2).

Singapore has a dense population where the Wuhan coronavirus can quickly spread if the country is not careful, Mr Shanmugam told reporters during a visit to Changi Airport, where he interacted with Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers there.

Mr Shanmugam was responding to a question on China’s criticism of other countries’ bans on Chinese nationals, following the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Singapore’s travel restrictions came into effect from 11.59pm on Saturday, while the ICA has also stopped issuing all forms of new visas to those with People’s Republic of China (PRC) passports.

Since then till 1pm on Sunday, Singapore has turned away 15 people at all its checkpoints — five with Chinese passports, five with Indian passports, as well as two from the United States, one from Spain, one from Britain and a Malaysian, the ICA said.

As of Saturday, more than 50 applications to extend the social visit passes of Chinese passport holders had been approved since the announcement of the suspension of new visas on Jan 31, the authority added.

Explaining Singapore’s decision for the restrictions, Mr Shanmugam, who is also Minister for Law, said: “If you look at Singapore, 760 square kilometres. How long does it take to go from Tuas to Changi, or Woodlands to Shenton Way? And it’s a very dense population. So the spread can be very fast, if we are not careful.

“The situation Singapore is in is very different from, say, other countries which are larger, and we have to look at our situation, our size and our resources. And based on that and based on the science, (we have to) make the decision.”

Mr Shanmugam reiterated what Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Saturday, that the Government is confident of China’s ability to deal with the coronavirus, and that Singapore should help China.

Mr Shanmugam also spoke of Singaporeans’ reactions to the outbreak, praising collective efforts in handling it.

He cited examples like the full-time national servicemen packing surgical masks overnight for Singaporeans to collect, and people conducting hygiene classes and distributing toiletries.

But Mr Shanmugam also raised some “disturbing trends” that have sprouted in “small pockets” — the spread of fake news and anti-PRC sentiments online.

He cited some reports of discrimination against Chinese nationals being denied service at clinics or being reported to the police because they are from China.

“Really, we are bigger than this and our hearts are bigger than this. We shouldn’t come down to this level of xenophobia,” he said.

“Disturbingly, I also have noticed, we have noticed, a number of racially charged actions, posts, people putting it up online. You know, fault lines bubbling below the surface.

“Some people show their true thoughts at times like these. But as I said, thankfully, (it is a) small minority.”