The Singapore government will donate S$500,000 (about US$391,000) to Japan for relief efforts in the current quake and tsunami disaster, Singapore's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
The money will be channeled through the Singapore Red Cross Society to buy supplies urgently needed by the survivors of Friday's quake and tsunami, such as mattresses, blankets, bottled water and water containers.
''There has been a spontaneous outpouring of sympathy and compassion from all walks of Singapore society for the victims in Japan from this disaster. We have seen a willingness by Singaporeans to contribute towards helping the victims in Japan,'' Singapore's Ambassador-at-large Chew Tai Soo told a news conference.
Chew, Singapore's former envoy to Japan, said Japanese authorities have told the Singapore Foreign Ministry that survivors at evacuation centers urgently need mattresses and other emergency provisions.
He said Singapore has no plan to evacuate its diplomats and other Singaporeans still in Japan at the moment. There are about 3,000 Singaporeans living in Japan.
Representatives of Mercy Relief, a Singapore-based NGO with vast experience in humanitarian and relief efforts for natural disasters, said at the same news conference that it plans to ship 20,000 packets of instant porridge and 20 manually-powered water treatment systems to Japan on Wednesday.
The focus of the assistance it will provide is likely to focus in Ibaraki, one of the prefectures devastated by the earthquake and ensuing tsunami, said Hassan Ahmad, chief executive of Mercy Relief.
In addition to the donation from the Singapore government, the Singapore Red Cross Society says it has received more than S$70,000 in donations from the public, while Mercy Relief has received about S$18,000 as of Tuesday.
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