Firsthand: Syrian eatery owner in S'pore recounts childhood before civil war, brainwashing in school & outbreak of unrest

Firsthand: In 2012, Abdulhadi Al Saadi (also known as Hadi), left his home country of Syria as the civil war in the country began to escalate.

He subsequently spent the next 13 years travelling to Lebanon, Egypt and Malaysia before finally settling in Singapore to start a new life in February 2020.

In June 2023, he established Damascus Delights at Tampines MRT station, a eatery that serves authentic Syrian cuisine in the form of shawarma.

In the first portion of Mothership's three-part interview with Hadi, he shares with us how life was like in Syria before the civil war, the brainwashing he experienced as a child in support of the country's dictator, and the government's heavy-handed approach towards dealing with the initial protests.

Despite the rain at about 2pm on a gloomy Monday afternoon, business at Damascus Delights was humming along as usual when we visited the eatery on Jan. 27, 2025.

Located at Tampines MRT station, Damascus Delights was first set up in June 2023 by Abdulhadi Al Saadi, also simply known as Hadi, to serve up "authentic Syrian food" in the form of chicken and lamb shawarma.

Hadi himself arrived in Singapore in February 2020.

"Just nice, with Covid," the 28-year-old joked with a laugh.

Yet, since then, Hadi appears to have settled in well.

Aside from opening his store, Hadi now also has three children, aged four, two, and four months old, with his Singaporean wife whom he married in 2019.

Such a happy outcome however, was not one he had in mind when he first left his home country of Syria in 2012 for Lebanon.

We thought it was only temporary

"I did not foresee from Syria, 'OK, I want to go Lebanon and then here, there...then end up in Singapore'. That was never the idea," he said.

In fact, his family thought that the unrest in Syria would only last for a while.

"Basically, we just moved to Lebanon, (and) hoped that we (could) come back, you know, border country...we thought it's (the unrest) gonna take (a) short period, but it didn't," he added.

Instead, the unrest would escalate into a full-blown civil war, and what would eventually become one of the most serious refugee crises of the 21st century.

In 2011, Syrians took to the streets to voice their discontent against the country's dictator, Bashar Al-Assad, and his ruling Ba'ath party.

In response, the government suppressed the protests with violence, using the army and police, and by 2012, multiple armed militias had emerged in the country.

Hadi found himself moving from Lebanon to Egypt, then Malaysia, before eventually settling down in Singapore.

A happy life in Syria prior to the civil war

Prior to the outbreak of the civil war, Hadi recalls leading a relatively happy life in Syria.

While he was born in Damascus, he spent much of his life in a village on the outskirts of Daraa, a southern Syrian city close to the border of Jordan.

Daraa was where the first protests against Syria's dictator, President Bashar Al-Assad, would also emerge in 2011.

According to Hadi, his childhood was "beautiful" with no responsibilities.

"Life (was) good. (I would) go to school, come back, do homework, go play football, enjoy games, just like what any child will wish for," he said.

His only concern was exams, with his parents hoping he would become either a doctor or engineer in the future.

In addition, his school would also organise trips to the sites of the country's Roman ruins such as Palmyra and Bosra.

Such sites were recalled by Hadi with a sense of awe and fascination.

He said, "[The ruins] look very small on the TV, you know, but once you (are there), you realise how big (it is). How did they build it? It is magnificent, really."

Palmyra would eventually suffer extensive damage during the civil war, first coming under the control of the Islamic State in May 2015, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The terrorists destroyed the site's most important structures — the 2,000 year old Temple of Bel and the Temple of Baalshamin.

They also beheaded Palmyra's chief archaeologist, 83-year-old Khaled al-Asaad, outside the city's museum and publicly execute 25 captives on the stage of Palmyra's Roman Theatre.

In 2016, Palmyra was recaptured by Russian forces.

Russia's military then flew an orchestra to perform classical music in the same Roman Theatre where the Islamic State had carried out its executions, as part of a push by Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, to bolster Russia's image around the world.

However, the Islamic State was able to retake Palmyra in December 2016.

They were driven out in 2017 by Russian, Iranian and Syrian forces, but not without blowing up the Roman Theatre's portico first.

Being fed with pro-Assad propaganda in school

Hadi recalls one aspect of school in Syria that wasn't common elsewhere.

"Children (were) fed the love of the President," he said.

This includes being taught from a young age how to chant in support of Assad, at various occasions in school by their teachers.

"With our blood, with our love, Bashar Al-Assad above them all," he recounted.

"I put his picture on my chest also," Hadi added.

And the propaganda succeeded in its brainwashing, Hadi acknowledged.

As a case in point, when I asked Hadi if he had joined any of the initial protests against Assad, he replied that he had joined "the other protest" — that is, one in support of Assad — instead.

"I did what my fellow students did," he said.

He speculated that the policy of indoctrinating children was one based on fear, with school principals facing the threat of being sent to one of the country's infamous prisons, such as Saydnaya prison, if they did not ensure that students were chanting for Assad.

According to Syrian media Ennab Baladi, both students and staff would have to chant slogans in support of Assad and his ruling Baath party.

For staff in particular, this would be done out of fear as a teacher could face repercussions from the government's security apparatus if they did not even salute the Syrian flag properly, for instance.

All of that was about to change, however.

"We could hear the bombs"

Hadi estimates that he was about 16 to 17 years old at the time the first few protests occurred in Daraa.

According to CNN, the protests were sparked by the arrests of at least 15 children for painting anti-government graffiti at a school in February 2011.

Residents of Daraa then found out that the children were being beaten and tortured in prison.

When the children's families approached the authorities in an attempt to bring their children back, they were shunned and insulted, with one official reportedly saying:

"Forget your children. If you really want your children, you should make more children. If you don’t know how to make more children, we’ll show you how to do it."

Throughout March and April 2011, members of the public continued protesting against Assad's regime in Daraa, with the crackdown by the Syrian government growing in intensity.

This included using live rounds on the protestors.

On Apr. 25, 2011, Daraa was subjected to a full-blown siege by the Syrian government.

While Hadi's village escaped the destruction, he recalled the sounds and sights of the Syrian army moving towards Daraa with fear.

"It's very scary, especially when you know that this tank is not really coming to protect you. You are not in a war with another country," he added.

His family were also unable to sleep at night as they could hear the bombs and missiles raining down on Daraa, which was about five kilometres away.

Social media also meant Syrians could see the damage being wrought by the government and the way they dealt with protestors.

"When we heard the news...I changed my view. I'm not ashamed to change my view," Hadi said.

The family decided they had to move to Lebanon in light of the unrest and by April 2012, all of them — his mother, eight brothers, including himself, and six sisters — had all left the country.

It was the beginning of what would become a long and difficult exodus from home.

Look out for Part 2 of Hadi's story, coming soon.

Top photos courtesy of Hadi