Penpals for 43 years, a Singaporean and a Canadian had never met in person - till now
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SINGAPORE - They began exchanging letters in 1982, when they were only 12 years old, and kept at it for 43 years.Yet, even as they wrote to each other all those years, they had never met in person. Not until last week, when Ms Michelle Anne Ng, a SingaporeanPenpals for 43 years, a Singaporean and a Canadian had never met in person - till now
SINGAPORE - They began exchanging letters in 1982, when they were only 12 years old, and kept at it for 43 years.Yet, even as they wrote to each other all those years, they had never met in person. Not until last week, when Ms Michelle Anne Ng, a Singaporean, flew to St John's in Newfoundland, Canada, on Oct 17 to see an old friend, Ms Sonya Clarke Casey.«We realised that visiting each other may no longer be a dream. We can make our sign-off dream 'Hope some day we will meet' come true,» Ms Ng told The Straits Times.«I mean I'm still young. So, if not now, when? Seize the day because, with age catching up with us, travelling long distance may not be as easy as someone who is in her 30s or 40s,» she said.Ms Ng and Ms Casey were paired through the International Youth Service (IYS) in 1983, when Ms Ng was in Primary 6 and Ms Casey was in Grade 5.IYS is a now-defunct Finnish service that matched those aged 10 to 20 as «penpals» or «pen-friends», people who wrote to each other and sent letters across vast distances through postal mail. Read more
