13,969 new Singaporeans

The Sunday Times, December 30, 2007

In the first 10 months of this year, a record 13,969 received their pink IC.
SHULI SUDDERUDDIN meets three new citizens who now call Singapore home


Out of Sri Lanka in search of a haven here

HAPPY WITH HER LIFE NOW, Madam Perera is seen here chatting with her neighbour Sridevi Maddela, wjile carrying her neighbour's daughter Pooja and holding onto her son Kevin.











A CHANCE of a better life away from war and graft drove Madam Melani Monika Perera to leave Sri Lanka and seek a haven in Singapore.

Madam Perera, 45, has found that haven and, in the process, has picked up one of her new homeland's main obsessions - a love for food.

Since coming here, she has learnt how to cook Singapore dishes from her friends and neighbours.
In fact, she has become so adept in the kitchen she is preparing mutton curry and sambal prawns for a New Year feast with her neighbours.

Madam Perera, who was granted citizenship along with her husband in February, came here 10 years ago. She was looking for a job but found a husband - fellow Sri Lankan Peter Milroy - at the Novena church, which they both attend.

They now have a son, seven-year-old Kevin Nacrath, and live in a three-room HDB flat in Whampoa.

Madam Perera, who is an estate agent, struggled with English at first but became fluent in it by chatting with her neighbours. Now she is the one who helps new arrivals fit in.

She said: 'I came to Singapore because it is near Sri Lanka and has a similar climate. It is also peaceful, without war or corruption.'

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2nd time lucky for this Indian family

MR SOMANATHAN, his wife Madam Kayalvizhi Kothandraman, son Sakthivel and daughter Abirami, got their citizenships this year.





WHEN the family of four tried for citizenship in 1998, they were all rejected - but it was second time lucky for them this year.

That initial rejection had prompted Mr Somanathan Singaravadivelan to start attending courses. This eventually led to him switching jobs - from an accountant to a software consultant.

He also started volunteering as a grassroots leader in 2001. 'I realised there were opportunities to help out in the community here, so I decided to join in,' he said.

Mr Somanathan, 51, will spend the New Year helping with the countdown party at Hwi Yoh Community Centre in Serangoon North.

He left India for Singapore in 1994 with his wife and then seven-year-old son, Sakthivel, who is currently doing his national service (NS). Their 12-year-old daughter, Abirami, was born here and is at Da Qiao Primary School.

His wife of 22 years, Madam Kayalvizhi Kothandaraman, 48, is a clinical coder specialist at the Singapore National Eye Centre.

Mr Somanathan likes Singapore's political stability and the efficiency of the Government, which he says 'delivers on its promises'. He also approves of NS, which he believes builds discipline and courage in young men.

His family loves watching local Indian dramas on TV and visiting Serangoon Road. 'We are just like every other Singaporean family,' Mr Somanathan said.

'We watch the National Day Parade and this year, my son even marched in it!'

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Filipina chose S'pore because of its strict laws


MS GEMMA GARCIA, 43, met her husband here, and feels Singapore is where her children - (from left) Shubhaa, seven, Nithira, five, and Gunah, three - can get a good education in a safe environment.













YOU can still detect the Filipino accent when she speaks English, but Ms Gemma Garcia is still a true-blue Singaporean, despite becoming a citizen only in July.

Not only does she love shopping and eating, but she also takes her three children to block parties at the void deck of her HDB flat in Bishan and reminds the little ones not to litter.

Singapore's strict laws are one of the reasons why Ms Garcia, 43, chose to become a citizen: 'It is much more orderly and safe here compared to the Philippines. I would not have felt safe there with my children.'

Ms Garcia, who also likes such Singaporean benefits as subsidised health care, came here to work as a domestic helper in 1995.

A few months before her second two-year contract ended, she met her husband, an officer in the Singapore Armed Forces. They married in 2000 and have three children aged three, five and seven.

Ms Garcia currently works as a housekeeper on a flexible basis, which allows her to look after her children.

Although she obtained citizenship five months ago, she has felt Singaporean for far longer.

'I haven't returned to the Philippines since my parents passed away four years ago. I feel like a local and getting my citizenship here just felt like the natural thing to do,' she said.