SINGAPORE: Imagine finding out that your best friend of over 50 years is actually your sister? A bonus! Well that's what happened to two Singaporean women who had no clue of their biological ties until just recently, now in their 70s.
Thangah Koh, 72, and Fatimah Mohidin, 71, who have known each other since childhood are– as they have discovered– the children of a mechanic and his second wife, who had eight children.
The story goes- as reported by The Straits Times- that two of their five half-siblings from their father's first marriage also lived with them, stretching their family's already limited finances.
Thangah is the second child, while Fatimah is the third child from their father's second marriage. Originally named Koh Siew Kiang, Thangah often fell ill as a baby. This led to following the advice of an astrologer who told her parents to give her up to a non-Chinese family, fearing potential misfortune.
The astrologer had said she might bring ill fortune to her mother, as her big toe was unusually smaller than her other toes.
At five months old, she was handed over to an Indian couple who ran a canteen at a school and did not have any children.
A year later, Fatimah, originally named Koh Siew Lang, was also placed under the care of Thangah's adoptive family.
However, caring for two small children proved a little too much for their adoptive parents. So, Fatimah was later given to their neighbours, a Malay couple who did not have any children of their own either.
Fatimah, now a retired factory worker, said that neighbours often asked if they were siblings due to their similar looks.
"People say we look alike and ask if we are siblings. I say I am Malay, and Thangah is Indian, so how can we be siblings? But when the truth was revealed, I just accepted it," she said.
Meanwhile, Thangah, a retired office assistant, said she only learned about her adopted sister when registering for an identity card during adolescence.
She said that immigration officers asked if she was of Chinese descent because her biological parents' names on her birth certificate were Chinese.
"I received the news calmly and did not inquire further with my parents because they loved me very much, especially my strict father. But silently, I searched for my biological family when I was 20 years old because I needed information to apply for Singaporean citizenship since the adoption process had no documents.
"When I successfully found them, my biological parents and siblings cried, and my father was very happy," she said.
She added that their biological family had once searched for the two siblings through advertisements in Chinese newspapers, but the effort was unsuccessful.
"That day, I was told that Fatimah is also my biological sister. We are happy as siblings, and I have never been angry about being handed over to the adoptive family. In fact, I am grateful to my adoptive parents for raising me well," he said.
Their adoptive and biological parents have since passed away– their birth mother being the most recent who died at 93 years of age just last year. They, however, still celebrate various occasions with their biological family.
"All my biological siblings are loving and respectful. We're even closer now, and my biological siblings call me their Indian sister, and Fatimah is their Malay sister," said Thangah.
Their story is featured in a book about interracial adoptions in pre-independent Singapore, which was published in December 2023, titled 'Little Drops: Cherished Children Of Singapore's Past', written by Dr Theresa Devasahayam, a part-time sociology lecturer.