Page 58 - MASALA VOL 8 ISSUE 3 DECEMBER 2016 – JANUARY 2017

People

A Journey to the

Land of

Opportunity

Through sheer determination,

wit, intellect and very hard work,
Kenneth Singh Singleton, a Sikh
born in Bangkok, became a proud

citizen and successful dentist in the
Land of Opportunity — the United

States of America. His journey to
the U.S. began in Korat, Thailand
more than 40 years ago.

By David Hariman

As a child, Kanwaljit Singh Sachdev dreamed of becoming
a medical doctor, with aspirations of either going to Oxford
or Dublin for his education. But dreams sometimes shatter.
As they almost did in 1965 when Kanwaljit returned to
Korat, Thailand from boarding school in India where he
learned English. “It was a good learning experience for me,”
he recalls. “Instructors made us do things on our own. I
have the best memories from those days.”

Within hours of arriving home from India, the family’s
garment business burned to the ground. That put a huge
fi nancial strain on Kanwaljit’s fi ve brothers, a sister and his
parents. But Kanwaljit never lost sight of his dream, despite
the immediate hardship. Because of Kanwaljit’s English
skills, he found a job with the United States military which
was based in Korat during the Vietnam War. “I became
a clerk typist and an interpreter for the staff ,” he says.
He spent about 18 months working alongside American
soldiers. “I taught enlistees how to do clerical work.”

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