Smaller queue on third day of voting at Myanmar Embassy

The queue outside the Myanmmar Embassy as of 1pm on 19 Oct, 2015. ST PHOTO: ALICIA CHAN

SINGAPORE - Voting continued on the third day of advance polls at the Myanmar Embassy, and the queue was much shorter than the line of voters on Saturday (Oct 17) which had snaked all the way to Orange Grove Road from the embassy in St Martin's Drive.

At 1.30pm on Monday, the queue occupied a 50m stretch of St Martin's Drive.

It was the second time that many of the voters were queuing up. They said they had shown up over the weekend only to be told to come back another day.

One of them, Mr Nyein Toe, a 50-year-old sales manager, said that he had waited in line for two-and-a-half hours on Sunday before being turned away. "There were not enough counters open for voters," said Mr Nyein, who has lived in Singapore for the past 18 years.

As with over the weekend, volunteers were on hand distributing drinks, fruits, and even soup to the crowd, as well as leaflets with instructions on how to vote.

"We gave out only water and sweets on the first day," said volunteer Ms Thi Thi Than, 32, adding that donations rolled in after a request was made online, allowing them to buy other provisions, including wet wipes and N95 masks in case the haze worsened.

Mr Kyaw Swar, a 31-year-old engineer who was helping to direct peopleon his day off, said the volunteers had organised themselves to help out their countrymen.

"There was no planning, we just give support where needed," he said.

Other volunteers were conducting their own informal surveys of how people were voting.

"Most are willing to fill in the forms and write their names," said Ms Wutyi Kyi Toe, 26, one of the volunteers. The software engineer added that they were conducting the survey to contest the authorities should the official election results not tally with their survey.

Mr Aye Chan Aung, a 33-year- old project coordinator, was among those turned away after queuing for 45 minutes on Saturday.

He said he had waited for four hours, since 7.30am, in order to vote.

Mr Aye said did not mind having to make two trips, as long as he had the chance to vote.

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