Singapore – Who says long lost sisters meeting for the first time in 50 years after being separated since birth only happened in novels and fairy tales? It definitely is a reality for Parameswari Govindasamy, 57, and Fathima Bibi, 53.
Mdm Parameswari, who works as a TV performer, always thought that she was an only child. Little did she know that the world was actually smaller than it seems, for it was her friend, Seeni, who made the call to Mdm Fathima. Seeni is the husband of Mdm Fathima and they have always known the truth of the situation for 30 years now. Wanting to wait until the right moment, they believe that now was the time for the big reveal and Mdm Fathima was ready to meet her sister.
As if the world wasn’t small enough yet, the adoptive father of Mdm Fathima and Mdm Parameswari’s adoptive mother have always been close friends, yet the paths of both sisters never crossed until recently.
Their story
Mdm Parameswari and Mdm Fathima were born to a Chinese family whose mother worked for Mdm Parames’ adoptive mother as the washer of the house. She was already pregnant with Mdm Parameswari but was still coming in to work because she had too many children to take care of. Her adoptive mother then decided to embrace her child as her own once she was born.
Mdm Fathima was also given up for adoption and an Indian Muslim family extended their arms to her.
The search must go on
The day when the two sisters met was truly heart-warming. Across language barriers and cultural differences, family always creates an unbreakable bond. Both families welcomed each other to become one big family filled with smiles and stories to share. And to continue making this family even bigger, the sisters have decided to search for their other two sisters and three brothers. All they know for now is that their biological last name is Lim; which is a very common surname in Singapore. But if half a century has proven to be nothing for these two sisters to finally meet, then all it takes is one phone call for the whole family to become reunited again.
The online community is giving their full support by sharing and reposting their story knowing full well the power that social media has. RS Danny here is urging for this fairy tale-turned-reality story to go viral.
Sarah Leong has also explained that Chinese families giving up their baby girls was a common occurrence before and it was the Malay and Indian families who took them in.
This news first appeared in Channel NewsAsia.