Chitchat Got half Indian President, now half Indian SAF Family!

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

https://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/re...#Aloveoffamily

A love of family
As a trainer of Armour Officers, 2nd Warrant Officer (2WO) Veera Raj has been trained for combat,
live firing and tank operations. More interestingly, the Army also trained him for a challenge every married man faces — meeting his in-laws.

Although the 35-year-old only celebrated Chinese New Year for the first time with his wife’s family
two years ago, “things like giving mandarin oranges and saying lo hei phrases when you pour this and
pour that” were all quite familiar to him.

“In the Army, you also have Chinese New Year celebrations and other festive events where you get to learn about different cultures,” explained 2WO Veera.

Although it was out of the ordinary for his in-laws to welcome an Indian into their family, they were eager to meet him, said his wife Ms Shirley Yan, 37, who is an Indonesian Chinese turned Singaporean.

“They went, ‘Finally!’” the communications manager said. “One of my uncles calls him Obama, and they said, ‘Obama 终于来了’ (which means “Obama has finally arrived” in Mandarin).”

True to their (mixed) roots

The Chinese-Indian couple and their two daughters sometimes get curious stares from strangers who encounter them.

The Veeras are close to both sides of the family, celebrating both Chinese New Year and Deepavali.
“It doesn’t bother us and the girls quite like the attention,” said Ms Yan. “Even in kindergarten they know about different races and they are rather proud to be different.”

The parents keep their girls, Adrianna, 7, and Makayla, 5, close to both sides of the family. Chinese New Year is a big family affair at Ms Yan’s hometown in Jakarta, while the girls double their ang pows (red packets) with the red or purple ones they receive during Deepavali.

The children are registered as Indian in race, but they study Mandarin as their mother tongue.

Said 2WO Veera: “I took Malay in school, so I didn’t learn my own mother tongue. We thought it would be better for them to learn Mandarin so my wife could teach them.”

His own family comes from different backgrounds: his father is Tamil while his mother Punjabi, so they speak different dialects.

In fact, 2WO Veera has a decent understanding of Mandarin, which he picked up through interactions with his Armour mates.

“When my wife is conversing with her mum, I actually understand the conversation. I’ll just listen. Sometimes I’ll add my own two cents’ worth in English!”

Celebrating as a family

While 2WO Veera is no stranger to the NDP — he commanded the Presidential Lance Guard in 2007 and was part of the Show committee for the SG50 celebrations — it is his first NDP with the family that he remembers most fondly.

TThe family celebrated NDP at the National Stadium for the first time last year.
The family of four first celebrated National Day together at the National Stadium last year.

“It’s good to celebrate the nation’s birthday, and watching the parade is also a good time for family bonding,” said 2WO Veera.

“I think it’s also important that (the kids) know what their country is all about and that we need to love our country,” added Mdm Yan.

“When you ask me where I’m from, the first thing I say is Singapore — it’s a sense of pride and belonging.”

The young girls also understand that their father is a soldier who defends the country.

“They know ‘bad people’ are real because they always ask if Daddy is out there to protect us from
‘bad people’”, said Ms Yan. “They are proud that their dad is doing something really important for our country and our family.”


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