CLOSE to 2,000 people in Singapore, including many Myanmar nationals and some Singaporeans, have put their names to a petition calling for the international community to enter Myanmar - even without permission.

In a desperate bid to help their cyclone-battered country, where at least 100,000 people have been killed and a further million people displaced following Cyclone Nargis on May 3, members of the Myanmar community made their way to a desk manned by volunteers on the fifth floor of Peninsula Plaza.

'It is imperative to act before many more lives are unnecessarily lost,' said the one-page petition they signed. It called for aid workers to enter Myanmar 'regardless of the lack of permission from the military junta'.

'This death toll cannot be attributed only to the storm, it can be partly attributed to the ineffective and inhumane actions of the military junta,' said Myo Myint Muang, 23, a Myanmar business student at Singapore Management University.

He organised the petition with fellow nationals because of their anger over the worsening situation in Myanmar.

The document will be presented to various embassies today.

The Myanmar government has allowed aid into the country, but has been less welcoming of foreign aid agencies and experts trained in disaster relief. Agencies like the Singapore Red Cross and Salvation Army are still waiting for visas.

The unease over the junta's stand was clear yesterday as members of the community gathered to sign. Some who turned up did so with a heavy heart as they had not heard from family and friends in Myanmar yet.

Construction worker Myint Tham, 49, told The Straits Times that he had not heard from his family for days. He said: 'I'm worried sick, but communication is down. I feel so helpless.'

Some brought donations for groups like the Myanmar Club, which has managed to raise a total of S$35,000 to be spent on relief by a local non-governmental organisation.

Donations have also poured in for other aid agencies. The Singapore Red Cross has so far raised about $480,000 - just shy of its initial $500,000 target.

But it says the target has to be raised as it has to combat water-borne diseases that have surfaced as a result of the post-cyclone unsanitary conditions.

Mercy Relief has raised $170,000 so far, and the Salvation Army and World Aid Singapore have raised $50,000 and $70,000 respectively.

Money was not the only thing forthcoming yesterday - religious groups across the island also offered prayers for victims of the disaster. Some have also started collections.

Close to 300 people crowded into the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, where which many Catholic Myanmar nationals worship, for a special service.

The disaster hit extremely close to home for people like altar boy Saw James, 24, who is a general worker at a shipyard in Singapore.

His mother, sister-in-law and three nephews are dead after the cyclone hit their village, Nant Thar Gone, near the coast. His five remaining siblings are now living in refugee camps in Myaungmya.

'We're very worried about their future because their home is gone, everything is gone,' he said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LIM HENG LIANG