Tsunami survivors airlifted to Singapore for medical treatment

Asian Economic News, Dec 29, 2004

SINGAPORE, Dec. 28 Kyodo

Survivors of the tsunami disaster that hit Asia have begun to arrive in Singapore for medical treatment at hospitals, a local TV broadcaster reported Tuesday.

Many are American and British families who were holidaying at beach resorts in the region when the quakes and tsunamis struck Sunday, Channel NewsAsia reported.

It said that a family of four, believed to be American, was airlifted to Singapore's private Gleneagles Hospital on Monday night from Krabi, a popular island resort near Phuket in Thailand, one of the areas worst hit by the catastrophe.

More survivors are expected to be airlifted to Singapore throughout Tuesday, it said.

The city-state has not been affected by either the quake or tsunamis.

Singapore has a reputation as a premier medical hub in the region, and survivors of natural disasters and accidents in Southeast Asia are often evacuated here for treatment.

A spokeswoman for the Singapore-based International SOS said it has sent Japanese-speaking staff to Colombo in Sri Lanka to help evacuate a group of more than 20 Japanese who were holidaying at a coastal area. They are planning to either return to Japan or head to Singapore for medical treatment.

The company, which specializes in air evacuations from disaster and accident zones, also confirmed that it airlifted a British family of three on Monday night, and one more Briton to Singapore on Tuesday.

Most of those injured required treatment for bone fractures and other wounds.

About 450 Singaporeans were holidaying in Phuket at the time of the disaster, according to news reports. At least four Singaporeans were killed, three of them in Phuket and one in southern India.

Meanwhile, Singapore, highly dependent on foreign workers to keep its economy running, urged people here Tuesday to show compassion toward foreign workers from areas that have been hit by the disaster.

The Manpower Ministry issued a directive urging all employers of foreign workers from affected countries to ''show compassion and patience, and to assist their workers'' by allowing those whose families are affected by the disaster to contact relatives, or even return to their countries temporarily.

According to the ministry, there are 580,000 foreign workers in Singapore, which has a population of only about 3.7 million people. About 150,000 of the foreign workers are women working as domestic helpers in Singapore.

A ministry spokeswoman said it has not yet been flooded by enquiries or requests from foreign workers wanting to return to their countries.