SINGAPORE, July 29, 2010 (AFP) - Singapore has received a clemency appeal from the Malaysian government for a drug trafficker facing the death penalty in the city-state, the foreign ministry said.

The appeal was sent by Malaysia's foreign minister, a Singapore foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement issued late Wednesday.

Responding to media queries, the spokesman "confirmed that the ministry has received a letter of appeal for clemency for Yong Vui Kong from Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman".

"The letter of appeal has been referred to the legal authorities," the spokesman added.

Yong faces the death penalty, which is carried out by hanging, after he was convicted in 2008 of trafficking 47 grams of heroin into Singapore.

Both Malaysia and Singapore have tough anti-drug laws and rarely seek clemency for nationals facing drug charges in the other country.

But Anifah spoke out after Singapore's highest court in May rejected an appeal against the death sentence from Yong, who was 19 when he was caught.

In Singapore, the death penalty is mandatory for anyone caught trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin, 30 grams of cocaine or 500 grams of cannabis.

Amnesty International has said Singapore, with a population of nearly five million, has one of the highest per capita execution rates in the world. It put 420 people to death between 1991 and 2004.

Singapore officials say that capital punishment has deterred drug dealers from operating in the country and spared the lives of thousands of young people from drugs.