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Oral history interview with Stella Kalaoram conducted by Kristel Peralta and Cecilia Winchell on August 2, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Stella Kalaoram discusses her childhood in Singapore, the occupations and ethnic diversity of her family, and the four languages she speaks: English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. She shares her immigration journey to the United States with her husband, from Singapore to San Bernardino, California in 1990, and their move to Las Vegas in 2000. Stella also shares her employment experiences as a dental assistant, a housekeeper for the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino, and as a shop steward for the Culinary Workers Union. She also talks about contracting COVID-19 and her hospital experience, her family's differing religious faiths, and her translation work to empower the Asian-American community. Subjects discussed include: insurance benefits; Volunteer Organizer (VO); mask mandates; vaccine hesitancy; food traditions; language barriers; Baba and Nyonya cultures.

Narrator affiliation: Administrator, Atomic Energy Commission and Public Health Service