In Asia, SARS packs discrimination

In Asia, SARS packs discrimination

Jason Szep, Reuters, Singapore

Shunned by taxi drivers, rejected at hotels, turned back at
immigration counters, many people from SARS-hit Asian regions are
discovering another symptom of the deadly SARS virus --
discrimination.

In Hong Kong, residents in buildings afflicted by SARS
complain of being turned away by private doctors as soon as they
disclose their addresses.

Ethnic Chinese in SARS-hit Toronto are quizzed on their health
by neighbors, or shunned on the subway, while some taxi drivers
in Taiwan avoid areas popular with mainland Chinese.

As it burrows into the lungs of thousands of people worldwide,
the SARS virus also appears to be infecting social attitudes,
provoking mild discrimination or even blatant racism.

In countries such as Singapore, a tiny island republic with
the world's fourth-highest number of infections of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), some residents say they fear being
treated as pariahs if they travel abroad.

"I'm staying here in Singapore because I don't want to make
people feel uncomfortable," said Cynthia Tan, a 29-year-old
insurance broker.

Yeh Fu-lung, a taxi driver in Taipei, says he refuses to pick
up Taiwan travelers who are returning from China.

"A lot of these returning Taiwanese first take a shuttle bus
from the airport into town, and then hail a cab. You can tell
they're coming back from China," he said.

In the popular tourist destinations of Thailand all visitors
from high-risk countries must wear surgical masks at all times or
face a jail term or a fine, even if healthy.

Malaysia, whose population is 30 percent ethnic Chinese, no
longer grants visas to people from mainland China, which has the
world's largest number of SARS infections.

But Thailand's and Malaysia's dramatic measures are unlikely
to stoke diplomatic anger in countries hit hard by SARS, such as
China, said Dr Lam Peng Er, a researcher at the East Asia
Institute of the National University of Singapore.

"Right now the situation is really medical. It's an epidemic.
I don't think we should read too much into it," he said. "The
local people expect the government to act, and the governments
have to appear to be acting."

"Until the situation really deteriorates, I think countries
will deal with it very pragmatically," Lam added.

But for many people in multicultural Asia, the feeling of
being singled out at airports or isolated along ethnic lines, or
even shunned by a neighborhood dentist because of a chance brush
with a mysterious illness, is disturbingly new.

Ko Shiou Hee, an architect, said he was baffled when his
Australian business partner quizzed him repeatedly about his
health just days before leaving for Australia.

"I actually didn't know why he called me. I thought he was
just concerned about my health," he said.

"But after speaking with a few people, I started to realize
that my partner out of politeness actually didn't tell me that
he's a bit concerned about me going there."

Like Ko, others bristle at reports of Canadian shoppers
staying clear of Toronto's usually bustling Chinatown district or
cab drivers avoiding ethnic Chinese.

"I'm quite surprised to hear it from the Canadians, but maybe
it's because they are really feeling it with so many getting SARS
there. People say irrational things when they are afraid," said
Juyi Ong, a Singapore photographer.

To send a message of tolerance, Prime Minister Jean Chretien
lunched at a Chinese restaurant in Toronto last week. The
hysteria in Canada, which has 283 SARS cases, prompted one U.S.
official to say the virus was not a disease unique to Asians.

But frustration is brewing as newspapers report scattered
instances of stereotyping and racial bias. Taiwan's government
issued a rare public appeal on Monday to treat people from SARS-
affected countries no differently than others.

"Overseas tourists have passed through stringent measures to
enter the country, so their health conditions are guaranteed to a
certain degree. Please do not look differently at tourists from
SARS regions," Taiwan's department of health said.

Some like Danny Hor are putting a brave face on the
controversy. "At least I won't get mugged," the 37-year-old
manager of a Singapore coffee shop says wryly when asked if he
worries about his business trip to Boston this month.

"I just give a few coughs and they'll leave me alone."