THIS National Day is going to be different for the two pairs of twins featured on this page.

Permanent residents Raman and Lakshmanan Ayyakkunna, who are serving their national service (NS) as corporals in the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), will be marching as part of the SCDF contingent at the National Day Parade (NDP). The parade will be held at the Floating Platform at Marina Bay on Aug 9.

Seven-year-old identical twins Rajeswari and Rajalakshmi Vadivel nagged their father to buy them National Day T-shirts. The girls are going to become Singapore citizens later this month and are all excited. The T-shirts are their way of marking the special day.

For Corporals Raman and Lakshmanan, who turn 21 in October, the day holds special significance.
Having returned from India to fulfil their national service commitments, they were overjoyed to be selected for the parade. Even more so because both of them were picked.

They became PRs in 2006 but have spent a large part of their lives in India. In fact, they have never seen an NDP and are a little overwhelmed by the scale of the event and call it a "golden opportunity" for them.

Being chosen by their regimental sergeant major to be part of the contingent is a signal to them that they have been accepted despite their challenges in communicating in English with their fellow NSmen.

"We didn't know much about national service or about NDP, but everyone explained what it was about so we understood how important this is," said Corporal Raman.

As for the bubbly twin girls, they are looking forward to the festivities and fireworks. The two who are students of Bukit Panjang Primary School will get their red passports later this month. Their father, Mr Karuppiah Vadivel, will take his citizen's oath on Aug 22.

Mr Vadivel told tabla! that giving up his Indian passport was not an easy decision but he did it for his children - the twins and his new eight-month-old daughter.

"When I came as a bachelor to Singapore 15 years ago, I never thought that I would settle here permanently. India is still a part of me but this is home for us," he said.


Other related links:
» Twins insist on wearing National Day T-shirts
» Twins enjoy NS