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April15
What brought you to Singapore?
While I was at university in Geneva, my
father Chemuel Sameyeh – who was
already running his international carpet
dealership from Singapore – persuaded
me to visit over the holidays to help him
with an exhibition.
At the synagogue, my father hadmet a
cheerful, handsome Afghani Jew called
Savi Khafi Z’l, who invited us to his home
for Friday night services and dinner
(Shabbat); he was famously community-
minded, and his home was always open
to both Jews and non-Jews.
In Geneva, I’d been subsisting on a
vegetarian diet because I couldn’t be
bothered to go to the kosher butcher,
so at that first Shabbat in Singapore I
was too busy tucking into the delicious
Singapore’s Jewish community traces its history back to the Jewish
Baghdadi traders who were doing business here even before Sir
Stamford Raffles claimed the island for Britain in 1819. Iranian SARA
KHAFI, who was born and grew up in Hamburg, talks to
Verne
Maree
about her “miraculous” family, the orthodox Jewish lifestyle
and keeping kosher in Singapore.
AT HOME WITH
answered my prayers. As it turned out, I
was naturally very fertile indeed, as the
next four pregnancies showed!
Devorah is about to study international
relations at a London university, and our
second, third and fourth children are
schooling at UWCSEA. David (17) will
soon be doing his National Service
here in Singapore; Naomi (15) is our
musician, taking music for her IB; Svia
(9) is our ballet dancer; and Daniel (5)
is the baby of the household.
So, my message to young couples
who may be struggling to conceive is
not to give up, but to persevere!
You must have seen great
changes in Singapore during the
past 25 years.
I’ve seen phenomenal change. To be
honest, it took a while before Singapore
felt like home. Having come from
Germany, I was used to the European
lifestyle and good coffee, and there was
very little of that when I first arrived.
Before I had kids, I worked with my
father in his carpet business. More
food to realise that I’d caught the eye of
Reuben, the son of the house. But he
came to visit me in Geneva a couple of
times and the relationship developed.
We were married in 1990 in Israel, where
most of Reuben’s family lives.
Tell us about your family.
Reuben and I looked forward to having
children, but for more than five years we
had difficulty conceiving. After treatment
failed, a Singapore physician told me I
could never have children and would not
recommend further treatment.
Reuben and I were both devastated,
but I refused to give up. After undergoing
treatment in Israel, I finally conceived
and gave birth to Devorah (now 18). I
felt as though a miracle from heaven had
KEEPING KOSHER IN RIVER VALLEY ROAD
SARA KHAFI