<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>PRs active in grassroots work
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>About 1,000 are leaders who organise events and help residents </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Melissa Sim
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Retired Thai businesswoman Suchavadee Chandra (second from right), a Singapore PR who has been a grassroots leader in Sembawang Zone 'G' RC for about two years, teaching children in the neighbourhood traditional Thai dance. -- ST PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->NEW citizens and permanent residents (PRs) are fast making themselves recognised members of their communities by volunteering their time in grassroots organisations.
Organising block parties, welcoming new citizens or even helping elderly residents retrieve fallen clothes poles - the newcomers have done all this.
So far, about 1,000 PRs from countries such as Thailand, India and even Britain have signed up as grassroots leaders.
The chairmen of citizens consultative committees and residents' committees (RCs) hope more will join their ranks.
About 20,500 immigrants became citizens last year, up from 17,334 the year before. There was also a rise in the number of PRs, from 63,627 in 2007 to 79,167 last year.
Addressing 250 new citizens in his constituency last Saturday, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew urged them to play an active part to fit in, saying: 'Singaporeans will embrace you if you want to be embraced.'
It seems some immigrants have already put this into practice.
Sembawang Citizens Consultative Committee vice-chairman Goh Peng Hong said that when new immigrants get into grassroots work, they pull in other immigrants, who then settle into life here faster.
He said his team of 500 grassroots volunteers includes about 10 new immigrants, a number he hopes to bump up to 40.
Madam Suchavadee Chandra, a 56-year-old PR from Thailand who settled here six years ago, has been a grassroots leader in Sembawang Zone 'G' RC for about two years.
She has loved every minute of it. With three grown-up children, she found a lot of time on her hands. It was her daughter who suggested she become a grassroots volunteer.
The retired businesswoman said: 'I'm very happy now. I used to work in a hotel, so I enjoy organising events.'
Last May, she began teaching the neighbourhood's children traditional Thai dance for free. Her students have included Malay and Chinese children and a few with one Thai parent.
She said: 'I want to teach simple Thai next.'
On its part, the Government has set up the Integration and Naturalisation Council to integrate new immigrants into their communities.
Since 2007, about 700 grassroots leaders have been appointed Integration and Naturalisation Champions (INCs), whose job is to meet new immigrants and help them settle in.
Some immigrants have themselves become INCs.
English teacher Anthony Fulwood, 30, for example, moved here in 2004 and married a Singaporean the following year.
The Londoner, who used to give his time in church and museums, is a self-described 'volunteer extremist'.
A grassroots volunteer here for more than two years now, he holds five grassroots posts, including one as INC chairman for Zhenghua division in Bukit Panjang, where he lives with his wife and son in an HDB executive flat.
He said he has made it his 'personal project' to help new immigrants like himself.
He has shown them around and organised trips to places like army camps so they can find out about national service. He has also received calls about faulty lifts, cats soiling the corridors and even retrieved fallen clothes poles.
'I've made so many friends, it's fantastic,' he said, adding that his work has made him feel a part of the community.
He added: 'Now people know this ang moh is here to stay.' [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>About 1,000 are leaders who organise events and help residents </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Melissa Sim
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Retired Thai businesswoman Suchavadee Chandra (second from right), a Singapore PR who has been a grassroots leader in Sembawang Zone 'G' RC for about two years, teaching children in the neighbourhood traditional Thai dance. -- ST PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->NEW citizens and permanent residents (PRs) are fast making themselves recognised members of their communities by volunteering their time in grassroots organisations.
Organising block parties, welcoming new citizens or even helping elderly residents retrieve fallen clothes poles - the newcomers have done all this.
So far, about 1,000 PRs from countries such as Thailand, India and even Britain have signed up as grassroots leaders.
The chairmen of citizens consultative committees and residents' committees (RCs) hope more will join their ranks.
About 20,500 immigrants became citizens last year, up from 17,334 the year before. There was also a rise in the number of PRs, from 63,627 in 2007 to 79,167 last year.
Addressing 250 new citizens in his constituency last Saturday, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew urged them to play an active part to fit in, saying: 'Singaporeans will embrace you if you want to be embraced.'
It seems some immigrants have already put this into practice.
Sembawang Citizens Consultative Committee vice-chairman Goh Peng Hong said that when new immigrants get into grassroots work, they pull in other immigrants, who then settle into life here faster.
He said his team of 500 grassroots volunteers includes about 10 new immigrants, a number he hopes to bump up to 40.
Madam Suchavadee Chandra, a 56-year-old PR from Thailand who settled here six years ago, has been a grassroots leader in Sembawang Zone 'G' RC for about two years.
She has loved every minute of it. With three grown-up children, she found a lot of time on her hands. It was her daughter who suggested she become a grassroots volunteer.
The retired businesswoman said: 'I'm very happy now. I used to work in a hotel, so I enjoy organising events.'
Last May, she began teaching the neighbourhood's children traditional Thai dance for free. Her students have included Malay and Chinese children and a few with one Thai parent.
She said: 'I want to teach simple Thai next.'
On its part, the Government has set up the Integration and Naturalisation Council to integrate new immigrants into their communities.
Since 2007, about 700 grassroots leaders have been appointed Integration and Naturalisation Champions (INCs), whose job is to meet new immigrants and help them settle in.
Some immigrants have themselves become INCs.
English teacher Anthony Fulwood, 30, for example, moved here in 2004 and married a Singaporean the following year.
The Londoner, who used to give his time in church and museums, is a self-described 'volunteer extremist'.
A grassroots volunteer here for more than two years now, he holds five grassroots posts, including one as INC chairman for Zhenghua division in Bukit Panjang, where he lives with his wife and son in an HDB executive flat.
He said he has made it his 'personal project' to help new immigrants like himself.
He has shown them around and organised trips to places like army camps so they can find out about national service. He has also received calls about faulty lifts, cats soiling the corridors and even retrieved fallen clothes poles.
'I've made so many friends, it's fantastic,' he said, adding that his work has made him feel a part of the community.
He added: 'Now people know this ang moh is here to stay.' [email protected]
