Representing ‘the best of what Singapore can offer’: Vivian Balakrishan thanks Singaporeans in Timor-Leste
The Singaporeans in the country include pioneers who have been residents for more than two decades.
Dr Natarajan Rajaraman and his wife run Maluk Timor, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that trains local healthcare professionals in Timor-Leste.
DILI, Timor-Leste: On a dusty lane just outside of Dili's city centre in Timor-Leste is a community health centre.
Playing a big role in the success of the centre that services the municipality with a population of about 165,000 people are two Singaporeans.
Dr Natarajan Rajaraman and his wife Dr Lois Hong run Maluk Timor, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that trains local healthcare professionals.
Maluk Timor, which has 90 staff, works with about 70 community health centres throughout the country.
The centre in Dili handles emergency and maternity services, as well as conditions like tuberculosis and malnutrition. It is the busiest community health centre in the whole country, serving the most number of patients at any given point in time.
“The healthcare challenges in Timor are huge. It's both on the health care needs of the people and the healthcare resources that are available,” said Dr Natarajan, the NGO’s executive director.
His NGO focuses on strengthening the government's primary health care system, he added.
“We try and help that primary health care system to perform better. We do a fair amount of training of healthcare providers - doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health, all cadre of help providers. And another thing that we do is infrastructure improvement or development,” he told CNA.
SINGAPOREANS IN TIMOR-LESTE
The couple have been in Timor-Leste for the past three years, and are among the Singaporeans that Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan paid tribute to for their contributions to the fledgling nation.
Dr Balakrishnan was on a four-day visit to Timor Leste, where he announced the establishment of the Singapore mission in the country’s capital at a joint media conference with his Timorese counterpart Bendito dos Santos Freitas.
Dr Balakrishnan, who also witnessed the launch of a Singapore community association on Tuesday (Jul 25), noted that Singapore sent peacekeeping forces when Timor-Leste was experiencing a crisis, and sent policemen to help establish a police force in the country.
However, speaking about the role of the Singaporeans in the country, he said: “I've also come to realise it's not just the official and the diplomatic ties and contributions that they value. Actually, it's the people.”
The Singapore residents in the country include pioneers who have been living there for more than two decades. Among them are businessmen, educators, doctors and volunteers, he noted.
They represent “the best of what Singapore can offer”, he said.
He called on them to further support the country as it prepares to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the near future.
“It is going to be a process that will take enormous effort. We are going to help the Timorese fulfill this criteria and to go through this roadmap. And we will also require assistance from you to help them - help this country stand on its own two feet, be confident and to be able to be a contributory member of ASEAN as well,” he said.
THE NEW ASSOCIATION
The aim of the association, which has a clubhouse to its name, is to create a “vibrant, supportive community” for Singaporeans working and living in Timor-Leste, said Mr Jonathon Lim, the head of the Singapore Community Association who has been living in Timor-Leste for 13 years.
There are 58 Singaporeans registered in Timor-Leste.
“We want to foster close connections with the local community. I think it is important that Singaporeans come together, we harness their energies, and then we spur each other on to greater heights to success that we've all come to Timor to pursue," he told CNA.
Mr Lim said that hopes that with the upcoming resident embassy and this new association, more fellow Singaporeans will live and work in Timor-Leste.
