Mr Bandaru Yashwanth Naga Sai was thanked by by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong among others in his National Day Rally speech on Aug 23.
Speaking about the key role of migrants in Singapore’s history and evolution, PM Wong noted that Sai – as his friends call him – became a citizen just before he enlisted.
“He excelled in training, and even volunteered to extend his NS to help his unit prepare for a major combat evaluation. Earlier this year, he was named NSF of the Year!
“Sai could not be here tonight – he is overseas, training with his unit, continuing to do his part for Singapore. Thank you Sai, for your service!” the Prime Minister said.
During NS, Sai served as Platoon Sergeant at the 39th Battalion, Singapore Combat Engineers.
Earlier, Sai was part of the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) team that won the OneArena Robotics Challenge in 2022. The challenge involved 121 junior college students from 26 teams. The objective was to expose students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) education through the use of robotics, and the theme was aviation,
Saying that newcomers continue to be a part of Singapore’s history, PM Wong explained people have come from around the world, contributed to the economy and society and call the city-state their home throughout its history.
“Nearly all of us have parents, grandparents or great-grandparents who came to Singapore from somewhere else,” he said.
While the first generation may take time to fully settle in, Singapore is the home they grow up in for the next generation.
“Our young men serve National Service together. In every cohort of NS enlistees, we see many Permanent Residents and naturalised citizens. They come from different backgrounds. But once they put on the uniform, those differences matter much less.”
