Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
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National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data
Names: Nag, Abhijit, editor.
Title: Inspirations of a nation : tribute to 25 Singaporean South Asians / edited by Abhijit Nag.
Description: Singapore : World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd, [2016]
Identifiers: OCN 940929467 | ISBN 978-981-3141-05-6 (paperback) |
ISBN 978-981-3141-04-9 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: East Indians--Singapore--History. | East Indians--Singapore--Anecdotes. |
Pioneers--Singapore. | Nationalism and collective memory--Singapore.
Classification: LCC DS610.25.E37 | DDC 305.8914105957--dc2
Copyright 2016 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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Desk Editor: Sandhya Venkatesh
Designer: Jimmy Low
Printed in Singapore
CONTENTS
PREFACE
Singapore may be only a speck on the world map, but it is a port of call which has had people coming and going for ages. For many, it has been a magnet where they got stuck forever and made a new life for themselves and their families. The first census, in January 1824, recorded 10,683 residents, comprising 74 Europeans, 16 Armenians, 15 Arabs, 4,580 Malays, 3,317 Chinese, 756 natives of India and 1,925 Bugis. Now the population has grown to 5.47 million. Indians, however, remain a small minority, making up just 9.1 per cent of the 3.8-million resident populations. Nevertheless, Indians have played a notable role in the development of Singapore.
They came with Stamford Raffles. When he arrived in Singapore in January 1819, he brought with him about 120 sepoys and lascars, assistants and servants. Also with him came Narayana Pillay, an Indian trader from Penang, who built the Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapores oldest Hindu temple, in 1827.
Indians helped build and defend the British settlement. Indian sepoys garrisoned Singapore. Indian convicts, sent here till the 1860s, helped build roads, public works and buildings, including the beautiful St Andrews Cathedral. Indians joined the police force, worked for the government, entered various trades and professions and made their mark as teachers, doctors and lawyers.
Here are some of their stories. Meet Albel Singh, the first Singaporean to register for national service; Kripa Ram Vij, the first army chief; and Bala Subramanion, the first postmaster general.
Do you remember Dr BR Sreenivasan? He was the first vice chancellor of the University of Singapore, which later became the National University of Singapore. We also recall the lives and achievements of Velauthur Ambiavagar, the first Asian headmaster of Raffles Institution, Dr James MJ Supramaniam, the pioneer TB doctor, the broadcasters S Chandramohan and Ananda Perera, and the Vietnam War photographer Chellappah Canagaratnam.
Read the love story of George Suppiah, the first Asian to be a World Cup referee. Colourful, too, was the life of union leader G Kandasamy, who led the 1952 postal workers strike. That was the strike that helped Lee Kuan Yew become a leader; he himself mentioned that in his memoirs.
Did you know that Eugene Wijeysingha, the renowned former headmaster of Raffles Institution, became a teacher just so he could go to university? We also hear the life story of Professor Edwin Thumboo, the eminent poet and academic, who had an Indian father and a Chinese mother. The acclaimed musician Alex Abisheganaden regaled us with his memories of yesteryear, which included singing Japanese songs on the radio and meeting the Queen in Buckingham Palace.
Its remarkable, the anecdotes that surfaced. Wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai, for example, reminisced about the day he gave Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong a snake to wear around his neck for a photo op at Pulau Ubin in 2014.
Sportsmen and athletes naturally had some of the most memorable stories. Malaccan-born PC Suppiah recalled running for Singapore to become a Singapore citizen. No less remarkable is the life story of the former sprint queen Glory Barnabas, still competing and winning medals past the age of 70. Singapores sole boxing Olympian Syed Abdul Kadir is busy as ever, running his own boxing school. Former sprinter UK Shyam, who became Singapores fastest man when he ran 100 metres in 10.37 seconds in 2001, is a lecturer now teaching philosophy and political science at Hwa Chong Institution.
It was a pleasure working on this book because some of the people we met high-flyers who are, nevertheless, modest and down-to-earth. They saw nothing unusual about themselves and wondered why we are writing about them. The answers will emerge in the following pages, we hope, replete with their stories and achievements.
As Singapore celebrates 50 years of independence, its something to cherish this sense of nationhood that transcends race, religion and culture. To recall a popular National Day song, we are One People, One Nation, One Singapore.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to President SR Nathan for his interest and advice on the publication, and Abhijit Nag, to whom I shall remain indebted. My gratitude is also due to Balji PN, Gim Lee, Johnson Davasagayam, Ng Loke Koon, Samuel S. Dhoraisingam, my advisors for this publication. I would also like to thank the art director Jee Cheng, for her patience and diligence, as well as Ambika Raghavan, Ashwin Umapathi, Singapore Polytechnic Senior Lecturer M Thiyagarajan and Director, V Maheantharan and students, Clifford Kee Weng Siong, Florence Tan, Muhammad Raihan bin Ripin, Nur Hiddayh bte Abdullah for all their assistance throughout this project.
It has been a joy to learn of the extraordinary stories of all 25 featured personalities and I would like to thank them for their time and warm hospitality in welcoming Abhijit and me to their homes.
