Palestinian man names baby ‘Singapore’ to express gratitude as pregnant wife ate from S’porean aid kitchen

Palestinian baby named ‘Singapore’ by father who works as cook for Love Aid S’pore

A Palestinian man has named his baby girl “Singapore” to express appreciation for the aid the Republic has provided his family.

In an Instagram post by Mr Gilbert Goh, founder of non-governmental organisation Love Aid Singapore, the father revealed that his pregnant wife ate at the “Singaporean kitchen.”

Palestinian baby named ‘Singapore’ as father loves S’poreans

In the video, Mr Hamdan Hadad, who works as a cook for Love Aid’s “Singaporean kitchen”, was asked why he named his daughter “Singapore.”

He replied in Arabic that he had worked for Love Aid for two years and was “very happy.”

He wanted to name his child “Singapore” to express his gratitude for the Singaporean people because he “really loves” them.

Pregnant wife survived famine by eating at S’porean kitchen

Mr Hamdan said that while his wife was pregnant with his child, she ate regularly from Love Aid’s kitchen.

This was how she survived the severe famine experienced during the long conflict in Gaza.

The NGO staff showed the girl’s birth certificate to the camera, pointing out where her name was listed as “Singapore” in Arabic.

The child is the first Palestinian baby to be named “Singapore,” she said.

She also gave her father some cash on behalf of Love Aid, wishing the newborn good health and that “a bright new world will welcome her soon with the prospect of a permanent ceasefire.”

Love Aid operates 3 S’porean-funded kitchens in Gaza

Love Aid started out as “one-man NGO” some nine years ago, helmed by Mr Goh, it said on its social media.

Despite its humble beginning, it has been raising funds to establish soup kitchens to feed the people in Gaza and schools to educate their children.

On 14 Sept, he said that it had three Singaporean-funded kitchens in Gaza, one in north Gaza and two in central Gaza.

They cost about US$1,500 (S$1.942) per day to operate, he added.

According to an ABC News report in June, Love Aid has managed to raise more than S$5.3 million for its humanitarian work in Gaza — all from “generous” regular Singaporeans, Mr Goh revealed.

Also read: SAF airdrops 14.9 tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza, it’s S’pore’s 9th tranche of support