Road to citizenship
When new Singapore Citizen Syam Kumar Prabhakaran watched an interactive video on the need for Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) at the Land Transport Authority (LTA) Museum, he could relate well to the experience. Every morning, he drives from his home in Bukit Batok to his office at the National University of Singapore (NUS), passing through an ERP gantry on the seven-kilometre journey.
For Syam, who has lived in Singapore for over 20 years, the system showcases how Singapore is an orderly and stable society. “I wanted to become a Singapore Citizen because I like living here. I like the fact I always know what to expect. Even the ERP is predictable — it is a fair, demand-based system. If you want to go through it, you pay. If you don’t want to pay, then don’t drive there,” says Syam matter-of-factly. “It makes it easy to plan for a future in Singapore,” he adds.
Becoming Singaporean
Syam and his wife Veena were on a Singapore Experiential Tour (SET), one of three components of a Singapore Citizenship Journey (SCJ) that all new citizens must undergo. Besides the SET, the SCJ also includes an e-journey, which comprises four interactive modules on Singapore’s history and development, key national policies, Total Defence, as well as building a cohesive and harmonious society, and a Community Sharing Session with fellow residents of their constituency.
The SET lasts an afternoon and consists of visits to two venues that supports the themes of nation-building and meeting-future-challenges, such as the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Gallery, Reflections at Bukit Chandu, Parliament House and The National Museum.
While SET is meant to educate new citizens on Singapore’s history and achievements as well as the challenges and trade-offs that the city-state faces, it also provides practical information to help them plan a new chapter of their lives here.
Mo Chong Kwee, who is from Johor Bahru and has been living in Singapore for the past two decades, found it useful to understand LTA’s five-year transport master plan. The plan was rolled out in 2013 and includes MRT lines that will be built in the next five to ten years.
“It is good to find out about transport networks available in Singapore, and what we can look forward to,” says Chong Kwee, who is 43 and works as a supervisor in the tourism industry.
21-year-old student at the Management Development Institute of Singapore Rhea Pai agrees, adding that she enjoyed learning about the decisions behind Singapore’s comprehensive public transport system.
Rhea, who commutes from Hougang to Queenstown for school every day, says: “Although the trains are crowded sometimes, they are still very fast and clean. In Mumbai, I never took the trains because their cleanliness, frequency and connections were not as good.”
A new community
For many new citizens, one of the best parts about becoming Singaporean is being part of a community that is peaceful and harmonious.
Syam, who originally hails from the south Indian state of Kerala, is one of them. When he first started working in his current company, he was concerned that being from a different culture would make it challenging for him to fit in at work. But he found his new colleagues open and accepting, and had minimal difficulty adapting to his new work environment.
He brought the same spirit of support and understanding to the Community Sharing Session held among new citizens, volunteers and grassroots leaders from his Jurong Group Representation Constituency.
During the session, participants learnt how residents have helped the community, such as organising a breakfast programme for underprivileged children in the neighbourhood. They also discussed further ways they could contribute.
For instance, when Syam first came to Singapore, like new immigrants, he was uncertain about social security and help he could get it from the community. He was part of creating a social network of expatriates who supported one another when they fell ill, faced difficulties or just wanted to chat. To engage with the local community, the group has been helping various community centres in organising events such as children’s art and singing competitions.
“When the grassroots leaders talk about volunteering in our neighbourhood, I agree and support that point. We want people to be more willing to share and contribute to the community around us,” says Syam, who shared these views with the group.
He added that the session made him think about the shared future of all Singaporeans, even if it may be a challenging one. “The next 20 years will not be as easy as the last,” says Syam, who is realistic about economic uncertainty and political instability in the region.
But he believes that if each Singaporean can reach out to the people around them, it will have a far-reaching effect on building a strong and harmonious society.
Syam says: “With deeper understanding and cooperation among Singaporeans, we can live in harmony and social cohesiveness. If we can do that, Singapore will definitely be a great place to live, work and play in.”