80th Anniversary of Tamil Murasu

On Sunday 5 July 2015, Tamil Murasu, celebrated its 80th anniversary since its humble beginnings on 6 July 1937. Eighty years of a newspaper in Tamil is a long time indeed. Begun by A. C. Suppiah for the Tamils Reform Association, the newsletter of the organisation was given to G Sarangapany, who as a young man, showed dedication to its continued promotion. While the pre-war years were not the years when the Tamil community was crystallized as a political community, this paper together with another daily and well-run newspaper Tamil Nesan provided the backdrop of the community reflecting the Tamil community on both sides of the Bay of Bengal. None would have imagined that the sun would set on the British Indian Empire (including its extension into Burma, Bencoolen in Sumatra, Malay States and the Straits Settlements) that was ruled with the help of the Indian sepoys, the best administrative talent and labour power of India (See my forthcoming book on leading Tamils before the Second World War(1). The Second World War, and the defeat of the British at the hands of an Asian power Japan changed all that. With the creation of political communities of Malays, Chinese and Indians after the war, all the Tamil newspapers had a role to play in defining the new Malaya and the position of Tamils within it. Both Tamil Nesan and Tamil Murasu and later Tamil Malar played a crucial role in defining the Tamil community as the dominant community of Indians in Malaya and by extension Singapore. In the contemporary understanding of Tamil history, nobody mentions the contributions of Tamil Nesan and Tamil Malar to Singapore. A number of reasons can be advanced for this historical amnesia. Tamil Murasu, for much of its history, was dominated by one man – G. Sarangapany (referred in Tamil as KO SA). The other Tamil newspapers were either short-lived or had change of owners and editors. Sarangapany’s important role in launching the Tamils Representative Council in 1952 as an umbrella organisation for all the Tamil social organisations in Singapore and its major festival, the Thamizhar Thirunaal (Festival of Tamils), earned him the recognition that he enjoys today among the older generation of Tamils in Malaysia and Singapore. The British supported the festival as it was non-communist populist movement coming in the wake of the killing, jailing, and exiling of all the trade unionists who were the leaders of the Tamil community from 1946 onwards. It was also a period of intense debate concerning the future of citizenship for all Tamils in Malaya. The post-war years made the Tamils decide between staying in Malaya and returning home to their villages in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu at that time had the best living conditions as compared to Malaya. Tamil Murasu beat its competitor Tamil Nesan and became the populist newspaper supporting Tamil nationalism within the context of a Malaya that was moving rapidly towards becoming an independent country. As the popularity of Tamil Murasu arose, G Sarangapany brought over V T Arasu, A Murugaiyan, T Selvaganapathy and Murugu Subramaniyan as sub-editors to help him run the newspaper, while he expanded his business operations to Kuala Lumpur and within Singapore. Amongst them there was another long term editor M Chidambaram, who had worked for Tamil Murasu far longer than anybody else and who became deaf by being slapped by a Japanese soldier during the war years. Unfortunately, owing to the preponderance of ethnic Chinese in Singapore and its special significance for the British Army East of Suez Canal, Singapore was left out of the Federation of Malaya when it became an independent country as Malaya. But many in Singapore hoped that Singapore will eventually become a part of Malaya. The formation of Malaysia in 1963 allowed for the incorporation of Singapore as a state within an expanded Malaysia that included Sabah and Sarawak. In 1963, when Tamil Murasu became closed due to workers strike, T Selvaganapathy with some of the veteran workers from Tamil Murasu began the Tamil Malar which was simultaneously published from Kuala Lumpur. Apparav and Sreenivasan, both veteran compositors, left Sarangapany and never returned to him even after Tamil Murasu was later restarted. Both spoke fluent Telugu as G Sarangapany and felt betrayed by his disagreeing to a small salary increase for their hard work for him. Of course by that time, probably in 1959, V T Arasu had left for the newly formed Ministry of Culture while A Murugaiyan joined the Radio Singapore, which later became the Radio Television Singapore (RTS). Murugu Subramaniam joined the Tamil Nesan as its chief editor and for many years was the highest paid Tamil journalist in the world. Thus, Tamil Murasu was left in a limbo by all whom G Sarangapany had brought to build the paper. None inherited his mantle of becoming a leader in the Tamil community. Salary and working conditions were major reason for many of them leaving Sarangapany. Sarangapany had passed away in 1974.

Tamil Malar continued to remain as a challenge to Tamil Murasu until 1980 when it eventually closed. Two challenges are of historical merit to be mentioned briefly here. The managers of Tamil Malar, Shanmuga Sundaram and Meyyappan, were my friends. They were instrumental in making Tamil Malar into a morning edition paper, which was later followed by Tamil Murasu. Tamil Malar’s coup d’état into a morning paper in 1976 was done most secretively and caught Tamil Murasu by surprise. As both papers used to spy on each other, Tamil Murasu was caught off-guard. Tamil Murasu’s sales plummeted as Tamil Malar had already reported everything in its morning edition. None were interested in buying Tamil Murasu for some days. It took a few weeks before Tamil Murasu converted itself into a morning edition paper. In order to avoid the moral dilemma of hiding an impending historical event from my friends at Tamil Murasu, I avoided visiting both papers before Tamil Malar’s coup d’état. In 1979, a new group took over the management of Tamil Malar. Had the group of youngsters under Rajaiya Ganapathy (another friend of mine) succeeded in revamping the administration of Tamil Malar, Tamil Murasu would have ended for good. The tax corruption charges against Arumugam Pillai in Penang, the owner of Tamil Malar, affected its transfer to the new management. History again favoured the continued survival of Tamil Murasu.

Being committed to the survival of Tamil newspapers in Singapore, I became involved with Tamil Malar and Tamil Murasu from 1975. Most of the workers and editorial staff, formerly from Tamil Murasu, were also my friends and were friendly to be approached by all. The paper also published my reports of the Tamil Hindu temples that were disappearing as Singapore expanded its urbanisation policy. Among the many temples I wrote about, at least one escaped being relegated to the gutters of history and today remains a thriving temple with its own kindergarten(2). Tamil Murasu, on the other hand did not publish Tamil Hindu news even in the early 1990s. I still remember, writing a piece in 1977 on Pongal Festival for the cows at Sembawang Agricultural Station and being kindly told that Tamil Murasu does not promote Pongal Festival, a festival celebrated by Tamil Hindus. Jayaram Sarangapany, though he wanted to move away from Tamil Murasu’s past ideological position, yet deferred to E N Moideen, the day time editor. He did not want to upset the editors who held on to the old ideology. As all were my friends, I moved away from taking a stand. I realised that the conflict between Thamizhar Thirunaal and Pongal Thirunaal still persisted in the minds of some editors even after G Sarangapany had passed away in 1974.

As conditions in Tamil Murasu worsened due to lack of funds, poor management and a futuristic plan, I volunteered to help being a part-time editor (with no pay) from 1976 to the early 1980s. My work would start from 10 p.m. after my teaching at Victoria School’s Adult Education Board classes and last until the paper’s front page and editorial are approved by me. Very often the front page news had to be changed due to international news from the Reuters. The manager, Jayaram Sarangapany, was a good friend of mine. The friendship proved useful for promoting some of the major projects that I initiated for the survival of the Tamil language during those years(3). My friends in Tamil Malar were apprehensive of my close association with Tamil Murasu, but remained my friends until that paper closed. Mr Selvaganapathy remained in Singapore for some time until he returned to Tamil Nadu. Similarly Mr Chidambaram too worked very long for Tamil Murasu until he left. He remains a champion for promoting the use of Sanskrit free Tamil words in Singapore. He taught me to use appropriate Tamil words when I served as an editor for the paper.

During those years, I had spoken and written in many of my public papers that the Singapore Government’s Press Holdings Act was a three-legged (lame) horse for bringing English, Chinese and Malay newspapers under one company while leaving out Tamil Murasu under a family that had no means to maintain it as a promising newspaper. It was not that I did not admire free enterprise, but a poorly managed Tamil Murasu had no influence on its readers. V T Arasu’s return to Tamil Murasu after his retirement from government and the subsequent incorporation of Tamil Murasu into Singapore Press Holdings Company (SPH) ensured that the paper will have a sound management. Tamil Murasu was saved from extinction by the ingenuity of V T Arasu. I called to congratulate him on the day Tamil Murasu was acquired by SPH. Of course, the changing political scene in Singapore had helped such an incorporation.(4)

The history of the Tamil community, thus, may not be presented well by Tamil Murasu alone. In the 1950s, as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Singapore championed the Pongal Thirunaal as the festival of Tamils, Tamil Murasu did not publish news of them(5). They had to resort to publishing their own newspaper Kolgai Muzhakkam to reach out to the Tamil community. Only with the advent of Tamil Malar that we get to read of the Tamil community not reflected by Tamil Murasu. Thus it remains undeserving to describe Tamil Murasu as the voice of the Tamil community. Even when I launched massive community programmes in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, I had to publish my own newsletters like Munnetram and Puthiya Samuthayam (and Peravai to some extent), as both RTS and Tamil Murasu will not report news of them unless graced by a Member of Parliament. Both media also did not send reporters to community held events unless a cabinet minister or a Member of Parliament graces such events. This happened despite the fact that I had been associated with both the Tamil Radio and Tamil Murasu and was known to the producers and editors. So, in order to know the full history of the Tamil community in Singapore, the newspapers published by the many Tamil social organisations as well as Tamil Malar and Tamil Nesan needs to be read. There are also many magazines published by all Tamil social organisations that report of the history of the community. Tamil Murasu, however, having had the most ink and newsprint throughout its history, will be viewed by all novices to Singapore history of Tamils, as providing the full and only voice of the community during its years of existence. Let us archive our publications and memories in digital form so that history is viewed on a broader canvas.

Written by
Professor A Veeramani ( A Mani )
Singapore / Japan

Notes:
1. See A. Veeramani, (September 2015), Muthu Thamby Pillaiyin Malaya Maanmiyam to be published by Stamford Press, Singapore.

2. See A. Veeramani, 1997. The changing status of Tamil Language in Singapore’s Development, [in Tamil] Chennai: Tamil Art Printers

3. See A. Veeramani, 2014. ‘Tamil Education in Singapore’, In Malan (Editor), Tamil beyond the Tamil Homeland, Coimbatore: Centre for Tamil Civilization. Pages 350 – 373.

4. See A. Veeramani, 2015. Thamizhavel Lecture organised by the Singapore Tamil Teachers Union on 15 April 2015 at Umar Pulavar Tamil Centre Auditorium.

5. Mani, A. 2014. [Editor] Enchanting Asian Social Landscapes, Swarnadvipa Publishers: Singapore.

SG 50

Creating an inclusive society: How the smallest community is proof of a country’s development?

This year will witness many events organised for celebrating the 50 years of country-hood for Singapore. We are still a nation in the making. I was invited to the Singapore’s Ceylonese Community (SSC) Celebrations on Saturday 4th July 2015. As I went to the event to see the Ceylon Tamil community in its’ best moment, I spent a lot of time observing and absorbing the actives of all gathered there. A vast representation of the Tamil community leaders at the event showed the way Singapore has changed. The crowd had Sikhs, Tamils, Muslims and Ceylon Tamils, Chinese and many Singaporeans of many mixtures.

The event was organised under the leadership of Dr R Theyvendran, Mr Narasingam and many others. What surprised me most was that the event itself was led by Mr Lee Hong Seng, who was described as an ‘Honorary Ceylon Tamil’. He was described as having married a Ceylon Tamil, and therefore become a part of the community. An ethnic Chinese leading an event of the SCC would have been unbelievable and impossible in the near past. It is a bold move by the SCC to have gone very inclusive of everyone. While I am aware of the changing conditions within the SCC, and the forces at work within all Indian communities in Southeast Asia, it takes an astute political skill to implement such a dramatic move. The credit should go to Dr V Theyvendran for boldly changing the definition of the SCC and expanding its perimeters to include all who want to be included. Being the most practical and visionary leader as he is, he leads the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), the Tamils Representative Council (TRC), the Singapore Ceylon Tamils Association (SCTA), Ceylon Sports Club, the Senbaga Vinayagar Temple, Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS), and the Telecoms Credit Cooperative (TCC) including his own Stamford Press. There may be more organisations he patronizes, but the fundamental of all aspects of this man is that he devotes his living moments to so many organisations and yet remains calm and composed in transforming the identity of not only the Ceylon Tamils but all Tamils at the end of the 5th decade for Singapore. He has been feared, punished, loved, admired, followed, praised and cherished for what he has been doing. He has become the beacon of hope for the wider Tamil community in its aspiration to remain relevant in a vastly changed Singapore. His inclusive approach may bring a dynamic future for the SCC to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Singapore. As the SCC shrinks in its demographic size, as more and more Ceylon Tamils migrate out of Singapore and have lesser children or marry non-Ceylon Tamils and others, the move to include non-Ceylon Tamil Singaporeans will ensure that the activities of the SCC will not wither away due to their decreased number. I am already aware of non-Ceylon Tamils in the executive committee of the Senbaga Vinayagar temple, but appointing an ethnic Chinese for one of its significant event augurs well for the community’s future. Dr R Theyvendran may have set a precedent for other Tamil organisations to follow in looking for leaders and support in the wider Singapore society. This reminds me of the Manifesto I developed in the 1980s defining who a Tamil is in the context of Singapore. History has proved my postulation as right in that we need to expand the definition of Tamils to include more into our rank and file. We need all Singaporeans especially as volunteers in constructing the Tamil community in Singapore. Two of the dance items also showed the moulding that is taking place in Singapore. A group of Tamil dancers who danced to accompany a nationalist song by Shabir, incorporated various dance forms of Singapore into their dance. To add to that, a dance troupe from the National University of Singapore composed of non-Tamils put up one of the most vibrant dance in accompaniment to a Hindi song. They could emulate all the Indian dance forms with no mistakes in their presentation. The smile on their faces as they danced away into the hearts of the audience remains unforgettable. However, I will emphatically wish for the SCC to retain its Jaffna core by drawing up on all the descendants of the Jaffna Tamils to provide the leadership for their own community. I do hope all the Jaffna Tamil families in Singapore will use their internal strength and cultural cohesion for the betterment of all. In the process they can continue to absorb others into their ever-widening definition of who is a Tamil in Singapore.

The most interesting person I met at the event was Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, our Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. As I had met him almost ten years ago, I assumed he will not remember me. His memory of me was amazing as he enquired as to where I am now. His message at the event was more universal. His argument that the size of any community is unimportant as compared to the contributions it can make to a nation represented a theoretical abstract that summarised the essence of Singapore. A profound thought indeed. He used the Singapore Ceylonese Tamil community as an example to show how the social space in Singapore has allowed individuals and members of small communities to contribute much to the development of civil life in Singapore. Their contributions include government administration, law, medicine, and engineers for infrastructural projects etc. Amidst all their active participation in the economic development in Malaya and Singapore, they have also found time to promote sports like cricket and preserving their cultural identity. If a minority among the minority in Singapore can contribute so much to Singapore, there is more room for anyone who works hard in Singapore. It was a poignant message of confidence for all to believe that there are great possibilities for all in Singapore. Even in my observation of the Ceylonese Tamil community, I see that the vast majority of them can be classified as members of a ‘model minority’ amongst the larger Tamil community and others in Singapore.

Written by
Professor A Veeramani ( A Mani )
Singapore / Japan

International Yoga Day and Bhagavad Gita

On 21 June 2015, the world celebrated the International Yoga Day. Singapore too witnessed various groups participating in the Yoga activities of the day. As a practitioner of Yoga exercise over many years, I looked at the day with surprise. As the exercises have brought many benefits to my health, I was happy that it was being promoted on a non-commercial basis to millions of people across the world.

On 27 June I was equally surprised by a letter in the Voices column of Singapore’s Today newspaper, where a writer remarked that an event graced by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began with statements from the Bhagavad Gita and as such the event has political agenda and the future of Modi’s faith engrained within it.

India being a secular country with the vast majority being Hindus, a verse from Bagavad Gita or Thirukural need not be seen as blasphemy for use in public events. But the writer located in Singapore taking offence to such event was surprising. As the practice of yoga and meditation is common to religions that arose in the subcontinent, no one would take deep offense to using a universal quote from such literature. Of course, most Indian literature give importance to the divinity in the lives of humans, and as such they are not seen as promoting religion or religions. After all, Hinduisms is a just a generic term used on all the religions invented by humans in the Indian Subcontinent. Islam and Christianity that came later have also added to the richness of ideas in the sphere of relating to the divinity.

The use of a quote or a hymn from non-Abrahamic religions need not be seen being a Hindu in orientation. There are many stanzas from India’s great writings that can be used universally. Some of the great minds in modern history have made reference to India’s vast store of wisdom of written works. One such person that comes to my mind is Robert Oppenheimer (Jungk, Robert, 1958), a scientist and the Director of Los Alamos Laboratory on 16 July 1945. He thought of the Bagavad Gita verses as the first atomic bomb was detonated at the Jornada del Muerto desert about 56 km southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, on the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range. Oppenheimer recalled later that, while witnessing the explosion, he thought of a verse from the the Bhagavad Gita (XI, 12):

If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendour of the mighty one

Years later he would explain that another verse had also entered his mind at that time. He and the scientists who worked with him knew the world would not be the same after the first atomic bomb. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. He remembered the line from the Bhagavad Gita, where Lord Krishna tried to persuade Prince Arjuna that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says,

Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.

Oppenheimer was no Hindu and was not advancing Hinduism when he thought of the Bagavad Gita as the world of science provided humanity with the most lethal weapon for its self-destruction. Similarly, using quotes or references from the great wisdom provided by India’s texts need not be advancing any Hidden agenda by any politician. For many of us who have studied English literature we are aware that most of the literary texts make reference to Christianity, and none have seen any hidden agenda except to murmur that there are equally valuable literary texts in Asian languages. Religion should not be the yardstick for closing our minds to many of the valuable ideas that lay hidden in religious texts. They were the distilled statements carefully crafted by great minds, and we should not shut ourselves from them.

Written by
Professor A Veeramani ( A Mani )
Singapore / Japan

References:
Jungk, Robert (1958). Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Historical memories

The news of Mr. Phey Yew Kok’s surrender at Singapore’s Bangkok Embassy and being returned to Singapore to be charged for Criminal Branch of Trust (CBT) brought past memories. In 1975, he was the most popular trade unionist. One Saturday (22 February 1975), when by chance I was at the colonial built Subordinate Courts in South Bridge Road, he strode out of the court and was welcomed by hand-clapping supporters lined on both sides. He was considered a hero for having won the case against Tan Wah Piow, a student leader at the University of Singapore Student’s Union (USSU). At that time I was doing my Master’s degree at the Sociology Department, and used to attend all the rallies organised by the University of Singapore Students’ Union on the campus. I knew Tan Wah Piow to be a great orator and champion of workers’ plight as Singapore industrialised. I also respected Phey Yew Kok as he was already a Parliament member, and with other PAP stalwarts was trying build a better Singapore. As I stood under a tree outside the courts, I wondered then whether such eulogies were necessary for winning a case against a student who also loved Singapore. But, politics was such that in those days one was a hero and the other a villain. Tan Wah Piow served his sentence and then became an exile by escaping to Johor and then to Britain where he sought political asylum. Later, his citizenship was taken away even though he is born in Singapore. He has become a successful human rights activist and often makes comments on Singapore’s political history. Unfortunately, Phey Yew Kok too took the same route later in 1979, and went into hiding for almost 25 years. I have wondered over many years whether both men could have been more reflective then and changed the course of history for themselves as well as for Singapore. Phey Yew Kok was so powerful that he could have changed the life of those students by incorporating their views on workers’ rights. I am not sure what separated a teenager and a powerful politician of that period. Life is full of ironies – there is a level playing field for victims and heroes in history: the victim becomes a hero while the hero becomes a villain.

Written by
Professor A Veeramani ( A Mani )
Singapore / Japan

Friday, 26 June 2015