S1E1: Getting to know Little Singapore in the south of India: Letter From The Bureau Ep 1

May 6, 2021

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Letter From The Bureau Ep 1: Getting to know Little Singapore in the south of India

16:08 mins

Synopsis: Join The Straits Times's foreign desk editor Bhagyashree Garekar in this podcast series as she talks about life as it goes on, amid, and in spite of the headlines, with one of ST’s 30-odd correspondents in 15 cities across the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe every month. They will share with you some of the more interesting things they are reporting on from the countries they are based in.

In this episode, she hosts Rohini Mohan - ST's India correspondent - about a unique region in south India where the people have strong historical, economic and emotional ties to Singapore.

They chat about the following:

Where is 'Little Singapore' in south India and why it gets this name (0:55)
Background to districts surrounding Trichy (short for Tiruchirapalli) - the fourth largest city of Tamil Nadu and its decades-old connection to Singapore (2:28)
Hear about little Lee Kuan Yew Jayaprakash, born in Mannargudi town in Tamil Nadu in 2015, and the inspiration for his name (6:30)
Amid Covid-19 pandemic, as many migrant workers returned home after job loss or to care for their parents, the love affair with Singapore has turned into separation anxiety (9:05)

Read Rohini Mohan's stories: https://www.straitstimes.com/authors/rohini-mohan

Produced by: Bhagyashree Garekar (bhagya@sph.com.sg) & Ernest Luis

Edited by: Aleemah Basirah

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Follow Rohini Mohan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohini_mohan

Read more of ST's Letters From The Bureau: https://www.straitstimes.com/tags/letter-from-the-bureau