Europe's oldest man set to celebrate 111th Christmas

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Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : Dec 20 2014 | 10:25 PM IST
Europe's oldest man, a Punjab-born Sikh ex-labourer, is set to celebrate his 111th Christmas this year.
Nazar Singh, who is 110 years old, heard about the festival only once he moved to England in 1965 and has been a fan ever since.
"Since I came to England I take pride in receiving gifts and giving presents. I'm running out of items to ask for, though," he told the 'Daily Express' newspaper.
This year he will spend the day with family, but won't be seeing all his nine children, 34 grandchildren and 63 great-grandchildren.
He lives with his son, 61-year-old Chain Singh, in Sunderland in the north of England.
Chain said: "We always get him warm clothes. Oh, and whisky. We can't forget that."
Only two other men in the world are older than Nazar - Sakari Momoi and Yasutaro Koide - who are Japanese and aged 111.
In his expansive lifetime, Singh has lived through two world wars, the sinking of the Titanic, the invention of colour television and the first moon landing.
He told the newspaper: "I feel very good and very happy. I still feel fit and strong. I pray to the lord to take me when he wants to."
"I have got a good family behind me and that is why I have got that far."
An avid gardener until the age of 107, Singh has never had any operations, still has one of his remaining teeth and does not require a hearing aid.
From the young age of 10, Nazar helped his family to grow sugarcane, cotton, corn, wheat and later chilli, peanuts, potatoes and rice at their farm on their fields in the Punjab.
In 1965 he and his wife moved to Wallsall in the West Midlands where he worked as a labourer before he retired and moved to Sunderland in 1989.
His wife Narajan died 11 years ago from a heart attack, aged 90.
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First Published: Dec 20 2014 | 10:25 PM IST

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