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SINGAPORE - Members of Singapore's Myanmar community began voting Friday in a referendum on a new constitution for their country.
In small groups of about five, voters arrived at the Myanmar embassy at Saint Martin’s Road where they waited outside the gate before being escorted inside to cast ballots, an AFP reporter observed.
Notices said the embassy was closed for voting until Tuesday.
An embassy guard said about 50 people had arrived during the morning, after voting began at 9 am.
Among those who turned up to take part in the referendum, some had suggestions to improve the process.
Thet Winn Tint, a Myanmar national, said: "They should openly issue to all and they should call the opposition parties and the nation. They have to openly discuss and explain the constitution so that the people know what is stated in the constitution.
"I think most of the people do not know what is inside the constitution. But for my friends and I, we read everything stated in the constitution because this constitution is very important to us."
Singapore is home to an estimated 30,000 Myanmar nationals. Hundreds are expected to turn out on Sunday to cast ballots, said Myo Myint Maung, spokesman for the Overseas Burmese Patriots activist group.
Myanmar's generals said the referendum will pave the way for democratic elections in 2010.
The referendum will be the first balloting in Myanmar since 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to a landslide victory that was never recognised by the government.
More Myanmar nationals are expected to turn out on Sunday to cast their ballots. -AFP/CNA/vm
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