177 new S'poreans receive certs at national ceremony

Foreign Minister encourages new citizens to contribute to the nation’s common causes

- Osmond Chia

When Mr Frederic Maury told his parents that his family had decided to settle in Singapore a year after he had started work here in 2012, they were puzzled why he would want to live so far from their home in Toulouse, France.

Mr Maury, 55, a management executive at a global tech solutions company, said: "My parents were hard to convince. They were a bit sad that we'd be so far from them." Then his parents, now in their 80s, visited Singapore for the first time and "they saw why our family wanted to settle here", he added.

"They called it a 'beautiful garden" Mr Maury recalled, referring to the abundance of greenery in Singapore's urban landscape.

His family also enjoyed the safety they felt here and, given that their children had been enrolled into local schools, they decided it was an ideal home for them.

On Aug 18, Mr Maury's wife, Madam Yuko Arai, 55, and daughters Sawako, 15, and Ayano, 21, were confirmed as new Singaporeans.