SINGAPORE: It was a special day for 71 people who became Singapore residents on Saturday (Aug 5), just 4 days prior to National Day.
The Tanjong Pagar residents got their new identity cards and certificates of citizenship at a national citizenship event which was held on the 50th floor of the Pinnacle@Duxton, an iconic housing board development in Singapore’s city centre.
Among the brand-new citizens was 43-year-old Teyu Che Chern, a previous Malaysian who came to Singapore in 1981.
” I’ve been in Singapore over the last 30 over years,” stated Mr Teyu, who is the chief executive officer of monetary broking subsidiary Phillip Futures. “So it doesn’t take too much time for me to consider, especially because my wife is a Singaporean, all my four kids were Singaporeans at birth.”
” I also believed it’s likewise time for me to be a Singaporean and ideally (be) able to contribute a lot more to the nation,” he added.
Discussing exactly what it implies to be a Singaporean, Minister in Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing stated that stability, meritocracy and multiracialism are the worths binding the nation.
” To be a Singaporean is not a matter of origins per se. To be a Singaporean is an option,” said Mr Chan in a speech at the event. “It is also a pledge, a promise to build a nation that regardless of our absence of a typical history, to build a country with a set of common worths.”
” While we might not have a typical history, we can always have a set of common values that will bind us towards a typical future. This is exactly what this country of ours, Singapore, provides to every one people here.”
Organised by the People’s Association and supported by the National Integration Council, the national citizenship event is an annual occasion to mark the significance and opportunity of citizenship.
For Mr Teyu, ending up being a full-fledged Singaporean was a step in the ideal instructions.
” It’s a very unique sensation. In school you likewise sing the nationwide anthem, but just now … it’s the very first time I sing the nationwide anthem as a Singaporean,” stated Mr Teyu.
” At least now when I travel, when individuals say where are you from, which person, I can tell them that I’m from Singapore, I’m a Singaporean.”
” To be a Singaporean is not a matter of origins per se. To be a Singaporean is a choice,” said Mr Chan in a speech at the event. “It is also a promise, a promise to build a country that regardless of our absence of a common history, to construct a country with a set of typical worths.”
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