abcdexyz posted : "WTF, so many FTs : PRC, Ah neh can get Pink
IC! Then those who born here, stay here for decades, yet cannot get
Pink IC!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSk3nQ4dxg0&feature=player_embedded
SINGAPORE — As the opening notes of the National Anthem echoes
through her primary school, Cindy Lim stands at attention and sings
softly as the Singapore flag is raised during the morning assembly.
Unlike her other Singapore-born schoolmates, however, Cindy is not
allowed to raise the state flag. She has to pay higher fees if she
joins a school camp. And even though she comes from a low-income
family, the Primary 5 student is not eligible for financial
assistance from the Education Ministry.
Cindy, who scores excellent grades in her studies and has been a
school prefect for three years, is not entirely sure why she is
treated differently, but she suspects it may have something to do
with an unusual entry in her birth certificate that reads: “The
child is not a citizen of Singapore at the time of birth.”
The 11-year-old was born in Singapore to an Indonesian mother
and a stateless father who died of kidney failure last year. Her
father, originally a Malaysian who was brought to Singapore from
Selangor as a baby, became stateless after renouncing his
citizenship while refusing to serve the National Service here when
he got the enlistment call. Cindy’s mother, Madam Yulyana, 48, who
lives in Singapore as a long-term pass holder, said: “Seven days
after my daughter’s delivery, I followed my husband to the
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) because I cannot
believe what happened. “I have a country. Why is she stateless?
They explained that it is because the father is stateless.”
More than 1,000 people in Singapore share Cindy’s highly unusual
and complicated legal status. While some successfully obtain
Singapore citizenship, most find themselves in limbo for years,
decades, or the rest of their lives.
