SINGAPORE: Former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam wrote in a Tuesday night (July 25) Facebook post that people sometimes come up to his wife, Ms Jane Yumiko Ittogi, and try to practice their Japanese language with her.
He explained, however, that she does not speak the language, despite being of Japanese descent.
Mr. Tharman wrote in his post that when he was MP for Jurong, people came up to Ms. Ittogi and spoke to her in Teochew, Mandarin, Malay, or, in the case of younger people, English.
“But when we go to hawker centers in other parts of the island, someone will occasionally come up to her to practice their Japanese: O genki desu ka? And we have a good laugh explaining that she doesn’t speak Japanese, despite her name, Jane Yumiko Ittogi,” he added.
The presidential hopeful wrote that while Ms. Ittogi was born as one of four children to a Japanese merchant father and a local Singaporean Chinese mother, she has lived in Singapore since the age of three.
“She started off in a mainly Teochew-speaking kampong, and like most Singaporeans then entered Primary 1 with zero ability to read or write English. But she enjoyed learning from teachers and books, quite unlike myself as I was totally consumed with my sports.”
The couple met at the London School of Economics, where Ms Ittogi had already finished a master’s degree in law when Mr Tharman arrived after completing National Service.
“But we got to know each other as we moved in some of the same circles of friends who were deeply interested in social issues,” he wrote, adding that his wife shifted from law to community work over two decades ago.
He sounded proud of her as he said in his post that she works “quite single-mindedly to give confidence and help uplift disadvantaged children in Jurong, especially young teens. Plus ex-inmates, some of whom became our volunteers and leaders, and our friends.”
Also, Ms Ittogi started an NGO around ten years ago, Tasek Jurong, to scale up these programs to help others. It has since gone beyond Jurong, Mr. Tharman wrote, “and deepened its engagements with each boy and girl we enroll in our programs, and their families.”
In the meantime, Ms. Ittogi appears to be learning more Japanese words and phrases so that she won’t disappoint those who come up to her, unaware that Teochew is her first language.
Mr Tharman ended his post by writing that he and his wife “have been married 33 years now, and been blessed with four children, each following their own path.” /TISG
https://theindependent.sg/former-sm-tharman-and-minister-tong-congratulates-shanti-pereira-on-double-gold-medal-win-at-asian-championships/
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