'Singapore craze' in a Tamil Nadu village. From Mud Houses to Bungalows Woh!

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http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...l-nadu-village

'Singapore craze' in a Tamil Nadu village

Wong Pei Ting in Thiruvarur
[email protected]


Published:
Saturday, 08 August 2015















Agriculture — cultivating padi and groundnuts — is the main source of income in the Mannargudi area. Photo: Wong Pei Ting




THIRUVARUR, Mannargudi (Tamil Nadu) — As Singapore celebrates its 50th birthday this weekend, a small village in Tamil Nadu of about 3,000 households called Ullikkottai will also be celebrating SG50. Except, there aren’t any Singaporeans here.

It's the same village that held a funeral procession for our late founding prime minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

The connection? About two of three households here have members who had, at some point in their lives, toiled in the underbelly of modern Singapore as construction workers, plumbers, movers and packers, painters, fitters and electricians.

Fifty years ago in 1965, mud houses with thatched dome-shaped roofs and coconut fronds sprawled the largely agricultural Mannargudi area that contains some 50 villages, including Ullikkottai. Many land plots were uncultivated.

Today, two-storey concrete homes have cropped up amid paddy fields — some casting an uncanny resemblance to bungalows seen around Singapore.
















Locals from other parts of Tamil Nadu said it is uncommon to see houses built in the architectural styles adopted in homes around Ullikkottai — a village in a Tamil Nadu district called Mannargudi. Photos: Wong Pei Ting




Speaking of his hometown’s change as a “Singapore craze”, Mr U. Rameshkumar said the connection to Singapore had started much earlier.

He recalled a time in his teen years when he had encountered some people in the streets of Ullikkottai greeting each other in Malay. Curious, he asked about it and was told they were labourers who had just returned from Singapore. They had gone to Singapore to find work in the 1940s, and continued to use Malay greetings as it was their way of expressing a shared experience.

“They were the only ones with concrete houses then. That sparked the craze for Singapore,” he said of his first impression of Singapore.

Mr Rameshkumar said he too “found a path for himself” when he worked in Singapore as a junior glassblower. He’d spent nine years in Singapore, from 2005 to 2014.

It’s been almost a year since Mr Rameshkumar left Singapore for home in the Mannargudi town. The 32-year-old now runs his own glassware business supplying intricate apparatuses. Among his clients are Singapore businesses.

He attributes his success to a “Chinese man”. The man is the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

He said: “(Mr Lee) inspired me to set up my own company… He believes in truth, hard work and honesty.”






Glassblower, Mr U. Rameshkumar, 32, had worked in Singapore for nine years and now is an owner of SG Scientific Glass Ware, a company that supplies scientific apparatuses. Photo: Wong Pei Ting




Dr Bharati Selvan, 58, a medical practitioner, has Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s book From Third World To First handy in his office in Mannargudi, the administrative headquarters of some 50 villages in the area. He wishes to remember Mr Lee by keeping the streets in his town clean. Photo: Wong Pei Ting




The allure of concrete houses and the thought of a better life in Singapore is too great for many.

Mr R.T. Sivanandam, 70, sold his last plot of land he could use to harvest rice in the early 1990s to afford a 15,000 rupee (S$325) air ticket and some living expenses for his eldest son to work in Singapore. Today, five of his children are Singapore residents. His eldest son is now the co-founder of a software engineering company located in Henderson Industrial Park.

Mr C.G. Rajendran worked as a construction worker in Singapore in 1985. He said: “Mr Lee is welcoming of us to do something for the country. We could help build the city.”

However, the 55-year-old, overstayed his visa in 2006 after his work permit expired. He was arrested, jailed and deported in 2007.

His only regret, he said when asked, is that he can no longer re-enter Singapore. Still, he insisted it was “worth it”.






Mr C.G. Rajendran, 55, and his wife at his porch. He previously worked in Singapore as a construction worker. Photo: Wong Pei Ting




Today, Ullikkottai has grown from a rural sparse village to one with its own shops, community halls, 24-hour hospitals and ATMs and has become self-sufficient for the most part. Land prices in the village have elevated to a level comparable to a neighbouring, more developed town at Mannargudi, according to Mr Rameshkumar.

All these, residents attribute to the late Mr Lee and having had the opportunity to work in Singapore. They claim, it changed their lives.

So much so, when Mr Lee died in March, the village mourned as well. On his funeral day, some 300 people gathered for a silent 2km procession at Ullikkottai, in memoriam. A board had the words: “The great man who showed us the way to lead a wealthy life.”






Villagers in Ullikkottai hold up a board used in a March 29 procession for Mr Lee Kuan Yew at the panchayat (village chief)’s house. Photo: Wong Pei Ting




On the day of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s state funeral, March 29, 2015, a truck carrying a large board with the words “If people can be reborn, we wish that you are reborn in Tamil Nadu” headed a silent procession at Ullikkottai. Photo courtesy of U. Rameshkumar




Some 300 people had pinned on black ribbons and joined the two-kilometre walk. Photo courtesy of U. Rameshkumar




More than 100 banners were put up on March 29, 2015 in Ullikkottai, according to village authorities. Photo courtesy of U. Rameshkumar




At a central meeting point in Ullikkottai, a podium was raised. Candles were lit and a vigil was held. Ten people took turns to speak. Photo courtesy of U. Rameshkumar




Candles being lit at the vigil held to mourn Mr Lee Kuan Yew's death on his funeral day, March 29, 2015. Photo courtesy of U. Rameshkumar




Mr Sivanandam has also donated land to build a memorial hall in Mr Lee’s name, which will serve as an community venue and an “interception point of six villages”, which will also contain a library with books on Singapore’s history and its pioneers.

August 9 was chosen for the groundbreaking ceremony for the memorial hall as it coincides with Singapore’s National Day. So this Sunday, the village will gather for the ceremony and to celebrate what Singapore means to them. Singapore’s development and achievement over the last 50 years is symbolic to their own personal achievements for which, they feel “indebted” and “grateful”.

=> No wonder the FAP die die wanna bring in 'new citizens'!

As Mr Sivanandam said: “My house used to be a mud house.”






Mr U. Rameshkumar, 32, holds up an announcement inviting villagers to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s memorial hall, which will be held on August 9, Singapore’s 50th National Day. Photo: Wong Pei Ting




(Left) A Google Maps screenshot of the Ullikkottai village and the surrounding villages its market serves. (Right) A map showing where the Lee Kuan Yew memorial hall might be located.


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