By Sahar Foladi
Citizenship ceremonies are always filled with excitement and pure joy but it’s the hard work and struggles of migrants that make it worthwhile.
Sixty citizenship candidates and guests were present in City of Greater Dandenong on Australia Day to attain their citizenships.
City of Greater Dandenong mayor, Eden Foster and councillors were there, along with state and federal MPs such as Julian Hill, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil.
Some of the new citizens shared their stories with Star Journal:
Manpreet Singh and Prapapron Sarnsri
Mr Singh and Ms Sarnsri arrived in Australia in 2009 to study and later applied for their permanent residency.
“It’s been a difficult and long journey but now it’s good. I feel fantastic,” Ms Sarnsri said.
They’ve both lived in City of Greater Dandenong ever since arriving and love the area.
“When we first came it used to be so quiet, now it’s busy and vibrant,” she said.
The couple were ecstatic about their achievement.
“We got married last year, we got a baby on the way, we got a house and now citizenship. We can’t complain everything is going nicely,” Mr Singh said.
Ms Sarnsri plans to open her own restaurant in the Pakenham area after having her baby.
Faizan Malik
Mr Malik migrated to Australia in 2017 from Pakistan along with his family.
“I had been looking to move from Pakistan for a better career and future for my family so I had applied for immigration under (the) skilled migrants (category),” Mr Malik said.
Mr Malik studied in industrial engineering in Pakistan and has been working in a supply chain field.
He now works for Johnsons Control.
His family of four, with two children, have been living in City of Greater Dandenong and they love it.
“It’s been a good five years living in a multicultural community.
This day is very important to us because that’s what we’ve had been looking forward to and it’s a very proud moment for us.”
Abdullah Shakeel
It was a joyous day for Abdullah Shakeel, his four children and wife.
Mr Shakeel migrated to Australia in 2018 along with his family and had been living as a permanent resident.
While he struggled to find employment for a few months, everything slowly set in its places.
“Since we moved here it was hard to find a job, fortunately we found a job in a couple of months, started our lives here and since then it’s upwards.
“Basically it has been good and we are really enjoying our lives here.”
The family moved to live in City of Greater Dandenong a year ago and grew to love the area.
“It’s been very good living here because you can easily find whatever needs you have. There are a lot of mosques here, which is good for us and there are a lot of restaurants of your taste.
“There are good schools also so everything is positive since we’ve moved here.”
There are many obstacles migrants have to endure to finally experience this day.
We congratulate each of the new Australian citizens and wish them the very best for their future.
