An 81-year-old woman is trying to block the $200 million sale of Singapore's oldest department store, gathering 500 signatures on a petition and taking her fight to the company's board of directors.

Audrey Doyle, a widow who came to Singapore in 1957 with her husband from India, says she is worried the sale of Robinsons will throw older people out of work and destroy a company regarded as an institution, local media reported.

The store gained fame in World War II when hundreds of expatriates and British troops took refuge there as Japanese forces swept down the Malaysian peninsular before capturing the supposedly impregnable "fortress Singapore".

At least 10 companies, mostly from Asia, are interested in buying the retail business of the 145-year-old Robinson & Co Ltd, which could be worth S$270 million to S$380 million ($154-$217 million), industry analysts say.

Doyle's petition, which asks that the sale be reconsidered, is so popular the company has been forced to take the unusual step of asking staff not to help collect signatures. She even started a web address, donotsellrobinsons@yahoo.com.sg, to build support.

Protests of any kind are rare in tightly controlled Singapore.

"While the current management has given assurances that everything will stay the same when new owners take over, they will have their own policies," Doyle told The Straits Times.

She and a family friend, Eric Teng, plan to present the petition at the next extraordinary general meeting of the company, which is famous locally for its "Sale Worth Waiting For".

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