Citizenship Ceremony Celebrations Sealed with a Barbie

One of Mercy Place Mont Clare’s much-loved Care Companions will be affirming her love and loyalty to Australia next week when she celebrates her first Australia Day as an official Australian citizen.

Busadee Singphong, who originally hails from Bangkok in Thailand, admits she loves living in Australia and is excited at the prospect of becoming a citizen after calling Perth home for almost six years.

“I love living in Perth and am very settled here, particularly working at Mercy Place Mont Clare where we are all like a big family,” says Ms Singphong, who worked for an aluminium company in Thailand before emigrating and studied accounting at TAFE when she initially arrived in Australia.

“When I first came to Perth I couldn’t speak English very well, so I joined an English class and studied for a few years, after which I completed an aged care certificate and have been working as an Assistant in Nursing and Care Companion ever since.

“I love my job and feel like I’ve had so much opportunity in Australia already, which is also why I feel very proud at the prospect of being fully part of the country by becoming a citizen.”

Ms Singphongand her English-born husband plan to celebrate the day with an Australian barbecue, with seniors at Mercy Place Mont Clare also organising an Aussie style celebration on 26 January.

Mercy Place Mont Clare Service Manager, Janelle McFarlane, said the Mercy Health team was made up of many staff members who were born overseas, and as such the aged care home had a rich culture of diversity and comradeship.

“Everyone is very excited for Busadee and residents here at Mont Clare now have yet another reason to celebrate our identity and culture on Australia Day, and express how proud we all are to be Australian while being respectful of other people’s culture and heritage,” she said.

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