“Thank you for being more than just a place to live, you have been a place where families like mine can grow.” Nimantha Baranasuriya from Sri Lanka reflects on moving to Singapore on an NUS scholarship and expresses gratitude for the city’s family-focused environment.
00:28Hi everyone, I am Nimantha Baranasuri, I am 39 years of age.
00:32I was born in Sri Lanka.
00:33Sri Lanka is a tropical island, just like Singapore.
00:38Growing up there was a lot of fun.
00:40There was a lot of warmth and tradition in the country.
00:43I grew up in a very big family, I had lots of aunts and uncles
00:46and countless cousins to play with when I was growing up.
00:49So family gatherings were always a thing for us.
00:53In Sri Lanka, I studied computer science and engineering.
00:58Then I wanted to pursue further studies.
01:01I applied to a few universities.
01:03The National Institute of Singapore extended a full scholarship
01:06for me to move and study in Singapore.
01:09And that is why I moved to Singapore together with my wife back in 2011.
01:14So coming into Singapore was like the moment I stepped out of Shanghia,
01:19I was instantly mesmerized.
01:22The country was out of like a space, a science fiction novel for me.
01:26I remember taking a trip on the purple MRT line and I love trains.
01:31And I was trying to find the engine room and there wasn't,
01:34and later on I realized it's a driverless train.
01:36So those kind of things really mesmerized me about Singapore.
01:40And the university had many programs that they organized for our foreign students
01:44to immerse us in the Singaporean culture.
01:47So that really helped us settle down in Singapore quite fast as well.
01:51There were certain culture shock moments for us when we moved to Singapore.
01:55I remember crossing streets, something very simple,
01:58but in Sri Lanka pedestrians don't have a lot of right of way.
02:01I was waiting at a crossing to cross,
02:03and then the driver approached me and stopped,
02:06and he was waiting for me to cross.
02:07I was waiting for him to just drive by.
02:09And both of us were having like a staring contest.
02:12And then finally the driver just gestured at me, you know, to cross.
02:16And I realized, you know, that happens every day.
02:19So those kind of things, like little things,
02:21but I have lots of memories like that when settling down in Singapore.
02:26So as I mentioned in the beginning,
02:28we felt that the family values are like cornerstone in society
02:34and in how people, you know, raise families here.
02:37And there are so many support mechanisms,
02:40government policies around building up families
02:43because it's considered as a very important thing in Singaporean society.
02:47So we felt that, you know, having two daughters, 10 and 6 years of age,
02:51right now as we see that we are definitely confident
02:55that we made the right decision
02:56because our kids are growing up in a wonderful environment,
02:59in a safe environment,
03:00and we couldn't be any more proud of them, right?
03:03So life for me these days is like building my startup.
03:08So I'm running a very new startup to help manufacturing plants,
03:12like textile or F&B manufacturers reduce their full consumption
03:17by optimizing their heating operations.
03:19And at the end of the day, we help build a greener planet for everybody.
03:24And apart from that, we are raising two daughters with my wife.
03:28So they're in primary school going through the education system.
03:32So in the evenings when I'm back,
03:34there's a lot of homework that I need to help them with.
03:37Apart from that, I play tennis a lot.
03:40I find that it helps me cope with my stress a lot.
03:44And I have another group of friends that I train handstands with as well.
03:48So what's interesting these days is that I've started learning Chinese.
03:53So basically these are all types of CCA.
03:56This is wu dao tuan.
03:58Wu dao tuan?
03:59Yeah, it's like dancing.
04:00This is he chan tuan.
04:02He chan tuan.
04:04It's like choir.
04:06Taa de min zi jiao xiao hong.
04:08Taa de min zi jiao...
04:09Sorry, again?
04:10Taa de min zi jiao xiao hong.
04:11Taa de min zi jiao xiao.
04:12Taa de min zi jiao xiao xiao hong.
04:16Taa de min zi jiao xiao xiao hong.
04:19Because my daughters are learning Chinese as their mother tongue in school.
04:24So I thought of, you know, helping them with their Chinese studies.
04:27So I went and got myself enrolled in a Chinese class.
04:29And on the first day itself, the teacher asked me, like, why are you studying Chinese?
04:34And I told the teacher, actually, I want to help my daughters.
04:37And the teacher smiled and said, you know what, that's not going to happen.
04:40The daughters will be teaching you because they would be learning much faster
04:44than you would be able to learn it, but give it your best shot.
04:47So yeah, so here I am learning Chinese with the help of my daughters.
04:51And I'm truly enjoying the process.
04:54So talking about my favorite places in Singapore, they are all family-related places
05:00because whenever we have time on the weekends or whenever we are free,
05:04my wife and I take the kids down for walks or for play at neighborhood parks or other places of interest.
05:10So we usually live very close to West Coast Park.
05:13So that used to be our go-to place almost every Sunday where we go and fly kites
05:19and the kids ride their bicycles and climb.
05:22And there's a huge climbing pyramid that our girls really enjoy.
05:27And after that, we end the evening at McDonald's with some ice cream.
05:33Of course, my daughters were born here in Singapore, but I wanted them to be connected with the Sri Lankan roots.
05:40So we expose her to different kinds of Sri Lankan activities that we can find in Singapore.
05:46For example, there's a small Sri Lankan community in Singapore, so we try to get them exposed to other families that are living in Singapore that's just like us.
05:56Every year we travel back to Sri Lanka, so that our daughters can meet the extended families, their cousins that are still based in Sri Lanka.
06:05So that is like on our annual holiday calendar, no matter what happens.
06:08And at home, we do expose them to different kinds of Sri Lankan dishes that we make at home for them.
06:13Of course, it's not their favorite because growing up in Singapore, they like a lot of the Singaporean food that they're exposed to.
06:17But at home, we try to get them exposed to as many Sri Lankan dishes as possible, so that when they grow up, they would be firmly rooted in their cultural upbringing from Sri Lanka.
06:31But at the same time, be global citizens growing up in Singapore.
06:36To me, being Singaporean is living out the spirit of the pledge in its fullest.
06:42Because I wasn't born here, but I'm here together with so many other people who speak different languages, who come from different religions, who come from different races.
06:52But we are all here as one united society building towards the progress and the prosperity of the country.
07:00That to me is super powerful, and that's something that I truly resonate with.
07:05So my daughters in school, they're learning Chinese, so I thought that would be a very interesting way for her to sort of get exposed to another cultural aspect or cultural segment of Singapore that they have not been exposed to.
07:19And I myself, I've started to learn Chinese as well.
07:22And it's something that I think really makes life interesting for all of us.
07:27But to me, yeah, so to being Singaporean is all about living in harmony with lots of different kinds of people, but working together towards one common goal, which is the progress of not just myself, but the community as well.
07:40I'm looking forward to deepening my roots in Singapore, meeting more people, building more friendships, and contributing to the society as much as I can.
07:49Sada Dharaniya Singapur...
07:56Kudha Kalasita Shri Lanka Where Haddi Vadunu Mahata, Ob Metaraam Ikmaning, Metaraam Lengu NivahanakVeyaien Ushituin...
08:06Ob Mahata Hu Deegh Issa Tществu Sevanaak VoovapamanakNova, Ob Maage Daruanta Pritimaat Arachita Nivahanakviyya.
08:17We will live in the same time as we have lived in the old days of our father's life.
08:30The most important thing about the world is that,
08:37the world of the world is the world of the world.
08:50The world of the world is the world of the world.
08:55the woman who is the oldest of the world is a royal Muslim and her children.
09:03However, the woman who has been helped with her,
09:08was the same as the beautiful women and women,
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