Nadirah, a young teenage girl who was born 19 years ago in Singapore, had stayed in Singapore for the entire 19 years and lived like how all her friends did, but will soon be asked to leave from Singapore to a country which she does not know anyone nor able to speak the native language.
A close look at Nadirah, you would find her as Singaporean as anyone could be, in terms of manner and speech. Classmates of Nadirah might find it hard to accept that she actually holds a Filipino citizenship despite staying in Singapore for practically her entire life.
Nadirah was born out of wedlock in Singapore and given a Filipino citizenship, as her mother was a Filipino. Along with her five siblings, two other siblings are also non-citizens while the other three siblings were given citizenship as her parents got officially married in Philippine before they were born.
Due to family issues, the six siblings were referred to Ministry of Social & Family (MSF what was known as MCYS till recently) in 2006. Apart from housing Nadirah and her five siblings at Jamiyah Children’s Home (JCH), the ministry had tried its best to assist her in applying for citizenship within its means.
Since 2010, her family has been trying to apply for her permanent residency but in vain with no clear indication of the reason behind the rejection.
In 2012, Nadirah tried to apply for her citizenship with Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) stating in its reply,
“We have considered your appeals carefully. We regret to inform you that the appeals have not been successful. Nevertheless, you can continue to study and reside here on your valid Student’s Pass”.
Given the open-ended replies from ICA, Nadirah can only guess that her applications were probably rejected due to her father’s frequent brush with the law.
For all these years, Nadirah’s education fees are of a foreigner due to her citizenship ever since primary one, which gave her family tremendous financial burden. At one point, she worried for her tertiary education, she had no money to pay for the school fees, and as she is a non-citizen, she is not eligible for any bursaries. But fortunately a NGO, Akaraka assisted her in paying for her school fees putting her through ITE.
Nadirah’s childhood has not been pleasant and neither did it change for the better for years as a teenager. She had been placed in the care of JCH since young and later stayed with her grandparents to care for them. Her mother currently maintain minimum contact with her and her father has severed ties with Nadirah and her siblings
Even with such a troubling family background, she never gave up on herself to excel. Nadirah had been active in her school’s extra curriculum activities as well as being an exemplary student in her school where she managed to clinch a position of top 14th in her school for ’N’ levels during her secondary education.
Apart from MSF’s assistance for her predicament, she has sought the assistance from Members of Parliament such as K Shanmugam, Wong Kan Seng, Zainudin Nordin, Hri Kumar and Josephine Teo.
In view of her dire situation, MP K.Shanmugam, MP Wong Kan Seng and MP Josephine Teo have all specially helped Nadirah to write a letter to ICA to appeal for her citizenship. But ICA still rejected her applications nevertheless with no apparent reason given.
As Nadirah graduates from ITE, she will soon be asked to return to Philippine once her student visa expires in a month’s time. To be relying on relatives whom she never spoken to for years and a country where she has no memory of, the situation looks utmost depressing for this young lady with a uncertain future.
“All I have ever wanted was to be called a Singaporean because this is where I grew up and have lived so far and I can only see a good future for me and my family in this wonderful land I call home.” said Nadirah.
What she could do now apart from hoping that ICA will re-look at her citizenship appeal or to find a company that could employ her as a staff so that she could stay in Singapore with a work permit.
It is sad to see a home grown ‘Singaporean’ sent overseas to fend for herself simply because there is some unknown reason that deters citizenship to be given. Things could be clearer for people like Nadirah if the reasons are given for the rejection. And one is to wonder how many more such cases, which are similar to Nadirah out there.
Now that her grandmother has just passed away, Nadirah is now staying in her friend’s home. As the days go by closer to her day of departure, she grows desperate for any faint hope to stay in Singapore where she still calls it home.
::Homework Crapbox:: (version 2013 & 2014 & 2015 & 2016)
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i start the ball rolling!
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For the original video in which he performs the trick, see 4:30 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N--a2OuPLokFor the Reveal (in chinese language) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4WIiYqV3Y0 -
[Advertisement] - "Would You Save Your Friend?" Carlsberg Ad
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/this_urban_jungle/1652330/creative_carlsberg_ad_shows_you_who_your_true.html -
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The odd/interesting thing about a seemingly trival (even if slightly bloodied) matter, can be illustrated by the 3 following possibilites :
Possibility #1
EDMW_EDMW wrote :
The lady who kena "molested" is a PRC, and the two 'heroic' guys who bashed the ang mohs are PRC too (PRC = People's Republic of China). This is clearly an FT vs FT issue here, no Singaporeans are involved here (FT = Foreign Talent/Trash).Possibility #2
AngMohInSg wrote :
The girl and the 2 asian men are working together. The girl is using the molest argument to extort money and if that does not work the men use violence to threaten the victim. We have seen a story in stop about a local singaporean guy with his family in chinatown around CNY, a girl claims molest in the crowd and "bystanders" act aggressively. The family paid up. Second option, the girl was with the caucasians but gotten into some kind of dispute and she falsely used molest as revenge. Third option, the caucasians crossed the limit and touched the girl, she would have a real case for molest in court. Why i don't believe it was option 3? If it was real there would have been charges and no blood spilled. If the girl filed charges and would do the same next week she would be found out by the police and her scan together with her friends would be over.Possibility #3
Both #1 and #2 are simultaneously correct. -
[Movies] - Damn, lots of awesome movies in 2013
Ip Man Final Fight (Anthony Wong, not Donnie Yen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ujABThZshAGI Joe Retaliation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKNpy-tGwxEMan of Steel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0T3tjJLwp8Fast and Furious 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2h75LLhxM4After Earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIXQdv4G7oOblivion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdzpNH0DNZ4Star Trek Into Darkness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WzJXmY2xrg -
[Sports] - A controversial umpire judgement call
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=riv8V-mIetc -
Height could be an analogous symbol (even if a subconscious one) for wealth and prestige.
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/this_urban_jungle/1658414/confesssions_its_not_easy_for.html -
Interesting what the karmic background of this man's ability is. It is likely his soul's planetary work and purpose has to do with both the sleep state as well as with animals.
[Psychic] - Japanese man has power to put animals to sleep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXsFndVCjMk -
Someone on another local student forum posted the following YouTube channel as useful for O and A level students. One of the videos therein was "Evolution" (ie. Darwinism), an A level Biology topic.
The age old never ending debate of Darwinism vs Creationism is a violently heated one. Just for the record, both Darwinism and Creationism are wrong. Or to be precise, both are incomplete. This explains why both camps make valid arguments against each other. Because both are lacking and incomplete.
The more correct model, for those interested, is ExtraTerrestrial Interventionism. That is, ET genetic manipulation of biological genomes of Earth, including the human genome and lineage, is the only feasible model that adequately plugs in the gaping holes of both Darwinism and Creationism.
Anyway, back to the "Evolution" (ie. Darwinism) video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3GagfbA2vo&list=UUX6b17PVsYBQ0ip5gyeme-Q&index=80 -
This man, John Chang, is able to skillfully apply his psychic qi energy to perform a variety of applications (most importantly healing), and quite spectacularly, starting fires with his bare hands (see 2:00 minutes into the video).
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[Short Movie] - Insane Office Escape 2
http://www.vbox7.com/play:me6e6a2d11 -
[Humour] - The different kinds of taxi uncles you encounter
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/this_urban_jungle/1666542/16_types_of_taxi_uncles_you_see_in_spore.html -
A critically acclaimed movie set within the corrupt rot of Big Pharma (ie. the pharmaceuticals industry), it is a cat-and-mouse, life-and-death game where 3 characters (Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta Jones) desperately try to outwit each other, and the price of failure is a fate worse than death.
Rooney Mara and Catherine Zeta Jones begin as co-accomplices victimizing (directly) Channing Tatum and (indirectly) Jude Law. Channin Tatum dies, and Jude Law is nearly ruined. Initially an innocent (pitiful, even) victim of Rooney Mara and Catherine Zeta Jones' evil collaborative plan, Jude Law himself evolves (or devolves) into the worst evil criminal mastermind of all, as he pieces together their crime, and methodically carries out his diabolical plan for vengeance on them, ultimately completely ruining both Catherine Zeta Jones (who gets set up by Jude Law and rots in jail for the rest of her life), and more sadistically, Rooney Mara (whom was actually sane all this while, gets set up and imprisoned by Jude Law into a psychiatric prison and pumped full of psychiatric drugs that leave her a mindless zombie for the rest of her life).
The initially pitiful victim (Jude Law) transforms into the initial perpetrators' (Rooney Mara and Catherine Zeta Jones) worst nightmare, tormentor, torturer and enslaver.
YouTube Trailer :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jQq6BiT-eIWikipedia :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_Effects_(2013_film) -
Nadirah vs ICA
http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/03/born-bred-singaporean-asked-leave-foreigner/ -
Giant (eg. Parkway Parade, next to Tampines IKEA, etc) has good discount offers for several so-called portable aircons.
Because I have 3 PCs (one Windows XP, one Windows Vista, one Windows 7, the latter two PCs using 32 inch LCD TVs as monitors, and I connected both to the building antenna, so I can switch to TV mode and watch two TV channels on two 32 inch LCD TVs in my room simultaneously, but usually one will be TV mode, the other PC mode) in my room generating a lot of heat, I have to install 3 air-cons just for my room alone : 1 casement, 2 portable.
Oh, I also have a triple-fan in my room too (very hard to find stock for such fans liao), both for use when the aircons are on (if outside too hot, eg. hot afternoons, then 3 aircons + triple fan = my very own Ice Cool Forest within blazing hot Singapore), and when the aircons are off (when it's cooler in some nights, can switch off aircons and just use fan).
You need to plan the positions of the portable aircons, because each portable aircon will have two tubes out : hot air tube (that goes out of window), and condenser tube (for which if you're staying in an apartment like I am, you'll need to buy jerry-cans to collect, and manually empty, the condensate water).
And yes, I'm paying the entire household's electricity bills. It's not that expensive, as long as you switch off the aircons when you leave the house (unlike all the multi-national corporate and government office buildings).
Oh, I've a mini-fridge (the type found in hotel rooms) in my room too. In the middle of the night, when thirsty, got ice-cold coke. But sugary drinks can ruin your teeth, so be sure you rinse your mouth after sugary drinks.
Better yet, brush your teeth with Novamin toothpastes (eg. Sensodyne's Repair & Protect), which can actually re-mineralize (ie. repair) teeth. All you guys reading this, once your teeth is gone, it's gone forever. Better go buy Novamin toothpastes today! -
Panadol is a real life-saver, not just for fevers, but more importantly for those damn headaches that make you really tempted to put a bullet through your own head. I love the mini-caplets, because these are the easiest to swallow, and are fast acting.
https://www.panadol.com.au/All-Products/panadol/panadol-mini-caps/ -
Turning Twelve
By mrbrown | mrbrown – Mon, Mar 25, 2013
Faith Lee, mrbrown's oldest daughter
A few days ago, my firstborn turned twelve.
Twelve years old: One cycle of the Chinese zodiac. The number of years it takes to make a single malt whiskey. The year for Primary School Leaving Examination.
Twelve years ago, my child was born. Sixteen years ago, my wife and I got married. And twenty-four years ago, my wife decided she would go steady with me.
Little did we know where our journey as a couple would take us. Little did we know of the challenges, and the joys, ahead.
But here we are. With three children. And the first one just turned twelve.
It wasn't what we envisaged for our firstborn, to be honest.
My wife looked forward to shopping for clothes with her. Maybe pick out some nice dresses together. Maybe argue over things like whether she is allowed to wear makeup or have her ears pierced.
Or maybe fret over her exams. How she is doing well in English but just getting by with Maths. Or whether all those hours she spends on the phone with her best friend was affecting her studies.
Or perhaps we are worrying over her time spent on the computer, on Facebook, on Twitter, on WeChat, or whatever new social media thing that young people now use to communicate. And wondering if there are any boys in her friend lists.
And maybe, for her twelfth birthday, there is this big party, and she is allowed to invite all her friends from school. They have fruit punch, play games, exchange presents. And music from Justin Bieber, One Direction and Owl City is played loudly.
And perhaps as a gift, we take her to Demi Lovato's first one-night concert at Hard Rock Hotel at Resorts World Sentosa on Monday night. And like cranky parents, complain on our own Facebook when Lovato takes more than an hour to start the concert.
None of these things happened on the day my oldest daughter turned twelve. Faith has autism, a fairly serious form of it, which we have known since she turned two.
She does not have spoken language (we like to say, YET). She still has some problems with toilet training. And her senses often cannot deal with her surroundings and she needs to shut down or find a behaviour to cope with the overload. Her progress through life, to even grasp the most fundamental and practical aspects of daily living, will be long and arduous.
But she is the sweetest girl ever. Not a mean bone in her body, always with a ready smile and an awkward wet kiss for a familiar loved one. She loves going to Special School.
And lately, she has even shown signs of teenhood. She is no longer a baby or a toddler. She is growing into a tall lithesome young lady with long lanky legs that love to run (sometimes at the most inappropriate moments).
She loves teeny pop music and dances and laughingly jumps to it. She rejected a pair of black shoes my wife gave her to wear, picking out her pink shoes instead. She likes to go out more, and puts on her shoes to indicate it.
Twelve years old. My Faith is twelve. She has never called us Papa and Mommy before but she doesn't need to. We know she knows who we are in her life, and we will be her family for the rest of our lives, even if she never says those words ever. -
[Hollywood]- Lindsay Lohan's Changing Face: 25 yrs in 60 secs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqVP575Yn7UTop rated comments :
Essy367 :
this video scares me...
Lauren Burns :
That was literally one of the scariest things I've ever seen in my life. -
Actress Emily Browning as BabyDoll, sings a cover of Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) in the movie Sucker Punch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qogf-fNKUN4 -
The song "Endless Love" from the Jackie Chan movie "The Myth", is about a pair of lovers whose relationship goes beyond life and death, reincarnating across lifetimes.
Piano version :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIy14j3VnL0Chinese song version :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyI3vUJuihsFull movie :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he4RqhlPtI0At 1:46:26, Jackie Chan fights a baddie TaiJi/TaiChi master (whose TaiJi skills are most certainly the real deal).
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An extremely talented pianist YouTube nick "musicalbasics", composes and plays his song "Pachelbel's Nightmare", based loosely on Pachelbel's Canon.
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Russian Ladies looking for International (including Chinese) Men for marriage :
Full Story :
http://www.chinasmack.com/2013/pictures/taiwanese-guys-russian-girlfriend.html -
Tomb Raider (2013) WalkThrough (Part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ4OkyvfFBwStrategy Guide book
http://www.amazon.com/Raider-Signature-Series-Guide-Guides/dp/0744014530/[Article Interview] with Lara Croft actress Camilla Luddington
http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/02/26/tomb-raider-camilla-luddington/[Video Interview] with Lara Croft actress Camilla Luddington
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXD6VRSrUxQ
[Video Interview] with Lara Croft actress Camilla Luddington
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXD6VRSrUxQ