About 1500 Myanmar citizens, mostly dressed in red with red ribbons pinned to their shirts to mark their support for the protesters in Myanmar, took part in a prayer session lasting an hour and a half in the Buddhist temple in central Singapore.

Myanmar's ruling junta has cracked down on mass protests by Buddhist monks against 45 years of military rule and at least 10 people have been killed, according to state-run media.

"We are praying for the people in Burma, for the monks. We believe that if we pray, the truth will prevail," Tin Maung Win, a technical manager who has worked in Singapore for 12 years, said as he offered Burmese tea to those entering the temple.

"I feel very sad, angry, and hatred for the people who killed the monks," Tin said.

The local Straits Times newspaper said on Sunday about 4000 Myanmar citizens gathered in the Singapore temple on Saturday.

Kyaw Soe, a Myanmar citizen working in Singapore as a hotel manager and who helped to organise the prayer session, said they would continue to gather in the temple until the uprising in central Yangon was resolved.

Singapore, whose trade with Myanmar last year reached S$1 billion (US$668 million), has close relations with Myanmar's junta. Several of its rulers have sought medical treatment in the wealthy island republic.

Prominent Singapore opposition leader Chee Soon Juan led a vigil outside the Mynamar embassy in Singapore on Sunday to protest against the city-state's investments in Myanmar.

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