Singapore confirms 3 new coronavirus cases as Chinese experience backlash, suspicion

Singapore on Wednesday confirmed three new cases of the deadly new coronavirus, taking the city state’s total number of infections to 84. The Health Ministry also said five more cases had been discharged, including Singapore’s first confirmed case. There have now be 34 people who have recovered and left hospital. One of the new cases is a 35-year-old Singaporean woman with no recent travel history to China. She was linked to Singapore’s largest cluster, now affecting 22 people, around the Grace Assembly of God church. The other new cases are a 57-year-old Singaporean woman and a 54-year-old Singaporean man. Neither has a recent travel history to China. The World Health Organisation on Tuesday singled out Singapore for praise, director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying the city state was “leaving no stone unturned” in addressing the coronavirus outbreak. “We are very impressed with the efforts they are making to find every case, follow up with contacts, and stop transmission,” he said. However, there have been reports of Chinese workers and businesses in Singapore facing discrimination. Leslie Sim, 30, a lawyer, was in the lift of his office building with two masked cleaners who were disinfecting the grab rails and buttons when another man entered. “That man asked one of the cleaners if he was from China,” he said. When the cleaner said yes, Mr Sim said that the man pulled back in mock fear and shouted: “Aiyo you China ah, I scared”. At Chinatown Point, the general manager of Victor’s Kitchen, who only wanted to be known as Mr Liao, said some customers had left his restaurant upon realising some waitresses are Chinese. Although the restaurant has put up signs saying its Chinese staff have not been to China recently, its footfall has dropped by 30 per cent since end-January, he said. About 20 business owners employers Chinese workers said they have seen business drop, some by as much as 80 per cent. Partly, they think, this is because they have staff from China, and partly because many people are staying at home more these days. The owner of a hair salon, who declined to be named, struggles to pay the rent at the People’s Park Centre unit she leases as her regular customers are wary of her being from China and have stopped patronising her business. “Business has been so bad, I am planning to live on sweet potatoes each day for now as I’m not sure how I can get past this month’s rent,” she said. She used to earn up to S$100 (US$72) a day but in the past two weeks has been taking in S$30 to S$50 daily. She has also faced outright discrimination, she said. Recently, she wanted to buy masks from a shop and was told she would only be allowed to purchase three, even though another customer before her had managed to purchase 10. The reason, she suspects, is that the other customer was a Singaporean, while she is a Chinese national. Coronavirus concerns take hold in US, exposing Asian-Americans to the sting of discrimination “After the purchase, the staff even scolded me with a derogatory term, saying that Chinese people were responsible for the virus,” she said. Several Chinese-run eateries in Chinatown have been displaying notices informing customers their shops have been disinfected or their staff have not been to China recently. The manager of Dong Fang Mei Shi, a barbecue restaurant in Chinatown, who asked to be identified as Mr Zhang, said sales have fallen by 80 per cent from two weeks ago, partly because customers are wary of dining in because the restaurant has staff from China. “Before the outbreak, we could easily make up to S$10,000 per night. Now, we are struggling to even hit S$2,000,” Zhang said. He said the drop in customers was also due to a sharp decline in Chinese tourist arrivals and because Singaporeans are reluctant to visit crowded places. Tan Qi Sheng, supervisor of Da Miao Hotpot in Clarke Quay, said the restaurant has seen 70 per cent fewer customers since the Lunar New Year holiday. “Customers have asked whether we have workers from China,” he said, adding that some customers choose not to eat at the restaurant after being told it does. Singapore hospitals would suffer if leaders wore masks like Hong Kong’s Carrie Lam: minister Eric Wang, the owner of Spring Heal Spa at Chinatown Point, said his business has dropped by 70 per cent since the virus outbreak. “Since massage requires close body contact, a large number of customers have stopped patronising our shop to prevent coming in contact with our staff, many of whom are from China,” he said. Zhang Xi, the manager of a Hai Di Lao branch at Clarke Quay, said the number of customers at the outlet has halved since the Lunar New Year holiday, although regular diners still come. “I did encounter one customer who asked how my family’s province in China was, people were generally concerned about me,” Zhang said. Most of the business owners were stoic about their situation, saying they understood why people were shunning their shops. Mr Liao, the manager of Victor’s Kitchen, said: “We are faced with a natural disaster now so I don’t think it’s unfair.” Similarly, Mr Luo, a waiter at Ni Pang Zi Grilled Fish at Boat Quay, said he understood why customers were avoiding the restaurant, which has several workers from China. “I don’t blame them for wanting to avoid Chinese-run establishments because [the virus] did originate from China and nobody knows who has the virus,” he said. Luo, a Chinese national and has lived in Singapore for 18 years, said he still felt welcome in Singapore. “I think Singaporeans are some of the most welcoming people to foreigners,” he said. “Singaporeans are the most kind people to us.” Singapore’s ‘Total Defence’ plan clouded by weekend of total anxiety Emily Bai, a manicurist who works on Bugis Street, said her business has halved since January. She thought people were keeping a distance from her as she is Chinese: “I am a little unhappy, but what can I do?” Some Singaporeans said they were avoiding Chinese-run establishments because they worried the Chinese nationals working there had recently come from the mainland. One, who only wanted to be known as Mrs Toh, 65, said: “I want to avoid places with large congregations of those from China, just to be safe.” Others are going a step further, even avoiding fresh produce from China. A customer at NTUC Fairprice, who asked to be identified as Madam Soh, said she had not bought fruits and vegetables imported from China since the outbreak. “I am afraid,” the 71-year-old retiree said. “Before the virus, I would buy broccoli from China. Now, I buy only those imported from Australia or locally produced sweet potato leaves. It costs more but I feel better that way.” A patron at Cold Storage, homemaker Madam Lily Lee, 60, also avoids produce and dried food imported from China. “The virus started from there,” she said. “So for the time being I will stop buying from there.” A manager at a Cold Storage outlet in central Singapore, who did not want to be named, said the store has received many queries from customers about the origins of its fruits and vegetables. How coronavirus spread anti-Chinese racism like a disease through Asia “Some customers are very particular,” he said. “Many of them won’t buy these products when they find out they are from China.” Professor of Sociology Paulin Tay Straughan from the Singapore Management University said this avoidance of Chinese-run businesses or Chinese produce was a coping mechanism. “Whenever there is a crisis that we have little control over, we often give in to fears and irrational reasoning,” she said. “So by giving in to our irrational reasoning, for example by avoiding all things associated with the Chinese, it provides a false sense of security that one is ‘doing something’ to proactively ward off the virus.” Read the original article at Today Online. Purchase the China AI Report 2020 brought to you by SCMP Research and enjoy a 20% discount (original price US$400). 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