NO IC NO medical care NO job NO peace of mind (24 Jan 2004)

The Electric New Paper:

NO IC NO medical care NO job NO peace of mind
Yet illegal immigrant in S'pore raised two sons who're now successful chefs at Grand Hyatt Beijing & Four Seasons in KL

By Teh Jen Lee and Hajerah Kutus 24 January 2004

IMAGINE living in Singapore without an identity card for more than 36 years.

To one woman, this meant not being able to visit the doctor, even in extreme pain, out of fear of being discovered.

She entered Singapore as an illegal immigrant.

It also meant doing odd jobs to survive and keeping a low profile.

Always looking over her shoulder, she was afraid of being caught and bringing trouble to the people harbouring her.

That was what 72-year-old Madam Yong Ai Lian went through when she came here from Indonesia in 1967 aboard a wooden sampan with her two young sons.

While she is no longer considered an illegal immigrant by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), she is apparently 'stateless' and appears to have no travelling rights.

She currently lives alone in a flat in Tanglin Halt.

Her elder son, Mr Jack Aw Yong, 38, who works in Beijing, said: 'She's extremely anxious that she should continue to be with one of us. This is the first time in her life that she is totally by herself.

'The uncertainty of her circumstances has caused her many sleepless nights and she's now very depressed. Furthermore, her eyesight is failing. She also has a history of high blood pressure and weak legs.'

He told The New Paper his mother's plight, but requested that we don't interview or photograph her as she is very emotional.

It all began in 1964 when she met and married Singaporean Aw Yong Chwee Toh in Tanjong Pinang, Indonesia.

She knew that he already had a wife in Singapore, but as she didn't mind being his second wife, she decided to come here when he moved back in 1967.

However, Mr Aw Yong never registered their marriage so she didn't get a Singapore identity card.

She and her sons lived beside the home of Mr Aw Yong and his first wife in a wooden hut that was smaller than a one-room flat.

To make ends meet, she did odd jobs for the neighbours, such as washing clothes, cutting grass and buying groceries.

Mr Jack Aw Yong said: 'She had to walk 5km with the groceries just to earn five or 10 cents. She would wake up at 4am and work into the night.

'For meals, we would have rice with only soya sauce and maybe one egg shared between us. If we had a small fish, she would take the head and bones, and give us the rest.'

SONS ENGAGED LEGAL SERVICES

He recounted how his mother couldn't go to the doctor, even when she scalded her left thigh badly while boiling soup.

When her husband died in 1984, Madam Yong went to live with her eldest brother who was in Singapore and lost contact with the step-family.

In 2002, her brother sold his house in Pebble Lane and went back to Indonesia.

Her sons applied for her residency and travel document only then because they didn't want to get their uncle in trouble for harbouring an illegal immigrant.

They engaged the legal services of Ong Tay and Partners for the application.

ICA granted Madam Yong a special pass in October 2002 to stay here while they decided on her residential status. But she can't travel in the meantime.

With reference to Mr Aw Yong's appeal for his mother's case, ICA sent a letter dated Dec 10 last year asking for Madam Yong's past medical records, testimonies from the step-family and 'any other supporting documentary evidence to substantiate her continuous presence for the past 10 years'.

Mr Aw Yong said he can't submit the first two kinds of evidence to ICA because his mother only started seeing a doctor after she got the special pass. He has also lost contact with his step family ever since his father died almost 20 years ago.

He provided us with a picture of his late father, hoping that someone from his step family will recognise him so they can reach Mr Aw Yong's lawyer at 6438-3922.

As for other documentary evidence, he has submitted a statutory declaration by his former neighbour in Pebble Lane who has known Madam Yong for over 30 years.

He thinks that ICA should also examine the old school report books belonging to him and his brother as his mother would sign them regularly on behalf of his father, a sailor who was often away from home.

After we e-mailed queries to ICA on Jan 9, they responded with the following:

'The investigation into Madam Yong's case has not been finalised. In addition, as with other appeals and applications, we are unable to disclose any details regarding the case as such information is confidential.'