<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Still a dream haven after all these years
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->WHILE reading an extract of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's speech at the S. Rajaratnam Lecture, which was reproduced last Friday ('Reading trends, staying nimble'), I recalled the years when Singapore was a talking point in India - then as it still is now.
While the Punjabis were drawn to the West, particularly England, the Tamils, especially those from Chettinad, in southern India, had been making their way to Singapore for as long as I can remember.
Quite a number of the young hopefuls in Chettinad - the Devakottai and Karaikudi - who were looking forward to marrying Chettinad beauties, had their dreams shattered when the young men who had migrated to Singapore returned home wealthy and had their pick of the brides.
The girls who had earlier settled on marrying the men who stayed behind left as Singapore-bound brides instead.
The young Tamils from Singapore who picked their Chettinad brides were known as 'Singapoorans' and were celebrated in the fiction of distinguished Tamil writers. I also recall a Tamil movie in which a girl was rebuked by her mother for being dazzled by the 'Singapore dollar'.
Though these recollections are now history, Singapore remains cherished in India's southernmost state of Tamil Nadu. Ties between the two regions continue to grow even stronger. My daughter, who is doing well in Singapore, where she has had a good job for nearly 20 years, is proof that this city state remains a haven for many.
=> But still a PeeR and ready to run road any time?
C.V.G Krishnan
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->WHILE reading an extract of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's speech at the S. Rajaratnam Lecture, which was reproduced last Friday ('Reading trends, staying nimble'), I recalled the years when Singapore was a talking point in India - then as it still is now.
While the Punjabis were drawn to the West, particularly England, the Tamils, especially those from Chettinad, in southern India, had been making their way to Singapore for as long as I can remember.
Quite a number of the young hopefuls in Chettinad - the Devakottai and Karaikudi - who were looking forward to marrying Chettinad beauties, had their dreams shattered when the young men who had migrated to Singapore returned home wealthy and had their pick of the brides.
The girls who had earlier settled on marrying the men who stayed behind left as Singapore-bound brides instead.
The young Tamils from Singapore who picked their Chettinad brides were known as 'Singapoorans' and were celebrated in the fiction of distinguished Tamil writers. I also recall a Tamil movie in which a girl was rebuked by her mother for being dazzled by the 'Singapore dollar'.
Though these recollections are now history, Singapore remains cherished in India's southernmost state of Tamil Nadu. Ties between the two regions continue to grow even stronger. My daughter, who is doing well in Singapore, where she has had a good job for nearly 20 years, is proof that this city state remains a haven for many.
=> But still a PeeR and ready to run road any time?
C.V.G Krishnan
