I feel like I'm finally a normal person'

Stateless man who is given S'pore PR gains sense of belonging and no longer feels 'alien'

- Nadine Chua

A little blue card, with his name and a few numbers that say who he is and where he lives.

To Mr Ricqo Rafiezuwan, a 25-year-old whom The Sunday Times featured in September in an article about stateless individuals and the challenges they face, the blue identity card he now guards jealously is more than just a document.

He said it confirms he is no longer someone without an identity.

As he spoke to ST on Dec 18, Mr Rafiezuwan proudly held up his blue identity card. There it was his name in big, bold letters.

"I cannot believe that I am holding this. I look at it and think, wow, is this real?

"Because this is what I have wanted for a very long time, for 25 years," said Mr Rafiezuwan, fighting to hold back his tears.

After the photographer was done taking pictures of him holding up the card, Mr Rafiezuwan wiped it with his hands and returned it to his wallet.

He slid the wallet into his back pocket, and gave that a gentle pat.

His card was safe.

Mr Rafiezuwan said he will not forget the day he received the news that he had been granted permanent residency status.

His mother called him, sobbing, on Nov 4 while he was at work. It was his first day at his first real job, an operation executive role he landed after his employer read about his story in ST.

"I thought something happened at home. I kept asking her what's wrong," he said. It turned out she was emotional over a letter from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

It said her son's application to become a permanent resident (PR) of Singapore had been approved in principle. He had to undergo medical checks and fulfil other formalities first.

On Nov 25, he collected his identity card.

BANK ACCOUNT

One of the first things Mr Rafiezuwan did after receiving his IC was to open a bank account.