By Kai-Lou Yue
Staff Writer
Param Karandikar, a senior at WA, has been drafted into the Singaporean army for the next two years. Because Karandikar has a dual citizenship to both Singapore and America, last June, he got a letter in the mail telling him that he had to join the Singapore army for two years.
Singapore, a small island country near the equator towards the south of Malaysia, drafts male citizens at the age of 16 to join the army. It is a program mandated by the government, and even if the citizen is currently living in another country such as the U.S., the person is required to join. According to Karandikar, there was also a boy in Colorado who he spoke with who was in the same situation as him; living in America but having to go to Singapore for the army.
“I’m still a bit nervous, because it’s literally like, half a planet away, and it’s a different culture…but it will be an interesting experience,” said Karandikar.
Although slightly nervous, Karandikar is curious to see how different his experience in Singapore will be compared to his normal life.
“I just have to accept that it’s going to be really different, but people learn a lot of new stuff, and new people, new places, and new experiences,” he said.Karandikar lived in Singapore for the first four or five years of his life, and is fairly comfortable with the idea of being in Singapore for such a long period of time. However, he is a little apprehensive about the language barrier. Singapore is a mix of many different Asian cultures, and many dialects and languages are spoken such as Chinese, Tamil, and Malay.
“I don’t think I need to learn how to speak it, but I do need to learn how to understand it, because chances are that officers and other people in the army will be speaking it,” said Karandikar, “it would be a probably be helpful to know what’s going on.”
As could be expected, Karandikar’s parents are not exactly happy about him going to have to serve in the army so far away. As Karandikar himself puts it, unlike if he was in college, he can’t visit often, or even Skype or contact his friends and family back in America much.
“But [the government] said I had to go [to Singapore], so now I have to go,” said Karandikar. “My parents, they aren’t too happy about it, but I mean, there isn’t really any other choice…And they’re pretty comfortable with Singapore because they have been there before.”
Also, a few of Karandikar’s classmates are planning to try and keep in touch with him through Facebook, including one of his classmates, senior Mandy Zhang.
“It’s just going to be a little different since I know that contact will not be as frequent, but since my mom did come from Singapore, I know a little bit about the place he’s going to, so that’s kinda cool. I think we’re going to try and stay in contact through Facebook, but mostly just that since he’ll be in the army,” said Zhang.
Since Karandikar’s next two years will be spent serving in the army, he has not yet applied to college because many of the colleges that he wanted to apply to did not accept a two year waiting period once the application had been accepted. Instead, he said he will apply to college after being released from his term in the army, and wants to go into the bio-sciences.
Karandikar also mentioned that he had changed a lot since freshman year.
“I’ve substantially more organized and calmer. I used to be a pretty hyper kid,” he said.
Many people are sending Karandikar on his way with wishes of luck, such as his guidance counselor at WA, Barbra Kutner, who has been working with him closely for the last four years.
“Param is a very talented young man with a bright future ahead of him. I wish him the best of luck as he heads off on his new adventure following graduation from Westford Academy as he bravely steps out into the global arena,” said Kutner.
