<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
Coffeeshop Chit Chat - WKS: We listen to u, now we restrict FTs</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt_89 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>10:38 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>38969.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Sep 19, 2010
Over 3,000 sworn in as new citizens
New Singaporeans urged to contribute and integrate with Singapore society
<!-- by line -->By Elgin Toh
http://www.straitstimes.com/News/Home/Story/STIStory_580385.html
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Four years ago, at Singapore's Registry of Marriages, they made their wedding vows.
Yesterday, IT professional Suhairy Sukiat, 36, from Indonesia, and accountant Zhang Hui, 31, from China, took another oath of sorts together.
Along with more than 3,000 others in similar ceremonies in schools and community centres across the island, they pledged allegiance to Singapore and became citizens.
At the annual National Citizenship Ceremony (NCC) held at the Supreme Court, with Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong as witness, they, along with 128 others, received their certificates of citizenship and identity cards.
They recited the pledge and sang the national anthem for the first time as new citizens.
Welcoming them at the NCC as full-fledged members of the Singapore family, Mr Gan called on the new citizens to uphold the shared values of Singapore.
'Many of you come from societies that are quite different from Singapore. There are memories and relations you want to keep and preserve, and rightfully so.
'But I encourage you to take the initiative to learn more about other cultural traditions in Singapore, so that you will have a better understanding and appreciation of the Singapore way of life.'
He also urged the new Singaporeans to serve as a 'valuable conduit between newcomers and the larger population'. One way, he suggested, is to volunteer at the grassroots level as Integration and Naturalisation Champions. There are currently 805 such volunteers.
The first NCC was organised in 2007 to reinforce the significance of adopting Singapore citizenship. The 130 new citizens attending this year's NCC at the Supreme Court were from Hong Kah GRC and Choa Chu Kang.
The event comes at a time when the Government is tightening the tap on immigrants in response to Singaporeans' fears of crowding, competition and changes to the character of society.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng acknowledged these concerns at another ceremony held in Bishan. He said the Government has 'acted on them' by tightening the selection of new permanent residents and citizens.
Addressing 150 people before him who took the pledge, he said that while citizenship gives them many privileges, it also 'comes with obligations and expectations on you as citizens'.
One is to integrate with the Singapore society, not an easy process for some, said Mr Wong, who oversees population policies. 'For example, some of you may not speak English, or you may have a different accent from Singaporeans when you speak. Don't lose heart.
'For those who do not speak English, I urge you to make an effort to learn it, as it is the common language of communication among our multiracial population. When you try to speak in the language understood by the other Singaporeans, I am sure they would appreciate it.'
(Kojakbt: why the fark are we giving citizenships to these FTs who can't speak a word of English in the first place?)
The newly minted Singaporeans yesterday pledged to make the effort to fit in. Said 34-year-old chemical engineer He Yanping, from China: 'I am now a member of this country, and I should do my best to protect it.'
For Mr Suhairy and Madam Zhang, becoming Singaporean was not a decision taken lightly. They could have chosen to settle down in Jakarta or Tianjin instead and had struggled with renouncing citizenship of the countries that they had been born in.
'But, of the three cities, Singapore was the only one which I felt was safe enough for my child to run around the shopping mall while I sat reading my newspaper', said Mr Suhairy.
And while it took Madam Zhang a few years to call Singapore home, their daughter, Calista, four, and six-month-old son Ryan, are no different from others born to Singapore parents.
'Calista speaks like her nursery friends. And this year, close to National Day, she came home one day and asked us why we didn't hang the flag from our home. So we went and got one - our very first Singapore flag.'
Already, the family has started to get involved in the society. Mr Suhairy, a tree-lover, wrote to National Parks when he saw trees being felled near his block of flats. He said: 'They replied quite quickly, to explain that they were cutting them down to plant a different type of tree.'
[email protected]
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Over 3,000 sworn in as new citizens
New Singaporeans urged to contribute and integrate with Singapore society
<!-- by line -->By Elgin Toh
http://www.straitstimes.com/News/Home/Story/STIStory_580385.html
<!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
Four years ago, at Singapore's Registry of Marriages, they made their wedding vows.
Yesterday, IT professional Suhairy Sukiat, 36, from Indonesia, and accountant Zhang Hui, 31, from China, took another oath of sorts together.
Along with more than 3,000 others in similar ceremonies in schools and community centres across the island, they pledged allegiance to Singapore and became citizens.
At the annual National Citizenship Ceremony (NCC) held at the Supreme Court, with Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong as witness, they, along with 128 others, received their certificates of citizenship and identity cards.
They recited the pledge and sang the national anthem for the first time as new citizens.
Welcoming them at the NCC as full-fledged members of the Singapore family, Mr Gan called on the new citizens to uphold the shared values of Singapore.
'Many of you come from societies that are quite different from Singapore. There are memories and relations you want to keep and preserve, and rightfully so.
'But I encourage you to take the initiative to learn more about other cultural traditions in Singapore, so that you will have a better understanding and appreciation of the Singapore way of life.'
He also urged the new Singaporeans to serve as a 'valuable conduit between newcomers and the larger population'. One way, he suggested, is to volunteer at the grassroots level as Integration and Naturalisation Champions. There are currently 805 such volunteers.
The first NCC was organised in 2007 to reinforce the significance of adopting Singapore citizenship. The 130 new citizens attending this year's NCC at the Supreme Court were from Hong Kah GRC and Choa Chu Kang.
The event comes at a time when the Government is tightening the tap on immigrants in response to Singaporeans' fears of crowding, competition and changes to the character of society.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng acknowledged these concerns at another ceremony held in Bishan. He said the Government has 'acted on them' by tightening the selection of new permanent residents and citizens.
Addressing 150 people before him who took the pledge, he said that while citizenship gives them many privileges, it also 'comes with obligations and expectations on you as citizens'.
One is to integrate with the Singapore society, not an easy process for some, said Mr Wong, who oversees population policies. 'For example, some of you may not speak English, or you may have a different accent from Singaporeans when you speak. Don't lose heart.
'For those who do not speak English, I urge you to make an effort to learn it, as it is the common language of communication among our multiracial population. When you try to speak in the language understood by the other Singaporeans, I am sure they would appreciate it.'
(Kojakbt: why the fark are we giving citizenships to these FTs who can't speak a word of English in the first place?)
The newly minted Singaporeans yesterday pledged to make the effort to fit in. Said 34-year-old chemical engineer He Yanping, from China: 'I am now a member of this country, and I should do my best to protect it.'
For Mr Suhairy and Madam Zhang, becoming Singaporean was not a decision taken lightly. They could have chosen to settle down in Jakarta or Tianjin instead and had struggled with renouncing citizenship of the countries that they had been born in.
'But, of the three cities, Singapore was the only one which I felt was safe enough for my child to run around the shopping mall while I sat reading my newspaper', said Mr Suhairy.
And while it took Madam Zhang a few years to call Singapore home, their daughter, Calista, four, and six-month-old son Ryan, are no different from others born to Singapore parents.
'Calista speaks like her nursery friends. And this year, close to National Day, she came home one day and asked us why we didn't hang the flag from our home. So we went and got one - our very first Singapore flag.'
Already, the family has started to get involved in the society. Mr Suhairy, a tree-lover, wrote to National Parks when he saw trees being felled near his block of flats. He said: 'They replied quite quickly, to explain that they were cutting them down to plant a different type of tree.'
[email protected]
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