Three Special Reasons to be Proud Canadians
Kandiah Chandrakumaran was born in the ancient capital of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Minority Tamils living among the Sinhala, because of escalating political tension, the family moved to Jaffna, a district in northern Sri Lanka where Tamil presence was strong. Graduating, Mechanical Engineering, 1974, University of Ceylon, Chandra soon gained employment with the Government’s Ministry of Irrigation, Power and Highways. After completing his efficiency bar examination, Chandra was made Regional Director, Mechanical Engineering, but when ethnic conflict disrupted the country in the mid-1970s, Chandra eventually chose employment elsewhere, settling in Nigeria, 1979. Briefly returning to Sri Lanka, 1981, to get married, Chandra and his wife, Usha, a civil engineer, immigrated to Nigeria. Seeking opportunity and ongoing stability, they immigrated to Canada, 1989. Chandra’s first job was as an engineer with a firm building Terminal 3 at Lester B. Pearson International Airport, Mississauga. Employed, since 1994, with Crossey Engineering, Toronto, Chandra and his wife have become Canadian citizens. They are also the parents of triplets, two boys and a girl, and are proud to raise them in a country where freedom, tolerance, and opportunity are national characteristics. [Photo, courtesy Kandiah Chandrakumaran]