Chengara Veetil Devan Nair
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Devan Nair
By Renuka, M. written on 2002-05-22
National Library Board Singapore
Comments on article: InfopediaTalk
Chengara Veetil Devan Nair or C. V. Devan Nair (b. 5 August 1923, Jasin, near Malacca, Malaysia - d. 7 December 2005, Canada) was Singapore's third President and first Indian President.
Early Life
The son of a rubber plantation clerk, Nair moved from Malaysia to Singapore with his family when he was ten. He received his early education at Rangoon Road Primary School. He went on to pursue his Senior Cambridge Certificate at Victoria School. Although he lacked formal learning at a higher level, Nair exhibited intellectual finesse and perseverance through independent learning.
Trade Unionist
After World War II, Nair joined the teaching profession, as there was a dire need for teachers. He first taught in St. Joseph's Institution and then St. Andrew's School. During this time, his interest in the trade union movement was ignited. He assumed the responsibility of General Secretary of the Singapore Teachers' Union in 1949.
The next few years seemed bleak for the idealistic Nair, as he was detained by the British authorities for participating in anti-colonial activities in 1951. Despite these difficulties, his passion for workers' welfare saw him return to trade union activities soon after his release in April 1953. This time, he served as the Secretary of the Singapore Factory and Shopworkers' Union.
Political Career
In 1954, Nair was called to be one of the convenors of the People's Action Party. He was also a Member of the Central Elective Committee. Again, in 1956, Nair was detained by the British. He was released three years later when the PAP came into leadership. Nair was appointed Political Secretary to the Minister of Education, a position he relinquished after a year. He returned to teaching.
In 1961, Nair played an instrumental role in the establishment of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC). He was also heavily involved in the parliamentary politics of Malaysia, as he earned himself a seat in the Bungsar constituency. After his term, he returned to assume his duties with NTUC. As the first Secretary-General of NTUC, he went on to become its President in 1979. That same year, Nair stood for elections at the Anson constituency and gained himself a seat. His Member of Parliament status stood for only two years.
On 23 October 1981, Devan Nair became Singapore's third President. He continued to champion worker's rights during his term. In 1985, Nair resigned from his position as head of state due to health reasons.
Awards
1963 : Public Service Star for his role and leadership in the labour movement
1976 : the National University of Singapore, then known as the University of Singapore, conferred upon him an Honorary Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa)
Family
Nair married Dhana Lakshimi in 1953. The couple had known each other since childhood as Nair and Dhana's brother were good friends. Throughout Nair's struggle in the trade union, Dhana had been a pillar of support for her husband. The couple has three sons and a daughter.
Publications
Who lives if Malaysia dies? A selection from the speeches and writings of DAP leaders. (1969). Petaling Jaya, Selangor: Democratic Action Party
(Call no. : RCLOS 329.9595 DEM).
Tomorrow - the peril and the promise: report by the Secretary General to the 2nd triennial delegates conference. (1976). Singapore: Singapore National Trades Union Congress.
(Call no.: 331.88095957 NAT)
Socialism that works the Singapore way. (1976). Singapore: Federal Publications.
(Call no.: RSING 335.0095957 SOC).
Asian Labour and the dynamics of change. (1977). Singapore: Singapore National Printers.
(Call no.: 331.095 NAI)
Trade Unions in Singapore (not available in NLB's collection).
Author
Renuka M.
References
Nair, C. V. D. (1982). Not by wages alone: Selected speeches and writings of C.V. Devan Nair, 1959-1981. Singapore: Singapore National Trades Union Congress.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 NAI)
Singapore Government. [1988]. C.V. Devan Nair: Circumstances relating to resignation as President of the Republic of Singapore. Singapore: Singapore National Printers.
(Call no.: RSING 324.22095957 CVD)
A new consensus, a new goal: Address by C. V. Devan Nair, President of the Republic of Singapore at the opening of the first session of the sixth parliament on 25 February, 1985, and addenda to the President's address. (1985). Singapore: Information Division, Ministry of Communications & Information.
(Call no.: RCLOS 354.5957 NEW)
Comrade president. (October, 1981). [Singapore]: The Monitor.
(Call no.: RSING 324. 22095957 COM)
Devan: nation builder, people's president. (1981). Singapore: Singapore National Trades Union Congress.
(Call no.: RSING 959.5700924 DEV)
MCN International Pte Ltd. (2005). Former Singapore President Devan Nair dies at age 82. Retrieved December 7, 2005 from www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/182396/1/.html
President's Office, Republic of Singapore. (1999). Mr C V Devan Nair - third president of the Republic of Singapore. Retrieved December 23, 2004, from //www.istana.gov.sg/history.html#nair
The information in this article is valid as at 2005 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
Subject
Personalities>>Biographies>>Political Leaders
Nair, C. V. Devan, 1923-2005
Presidents--Singapore--Biography
Politicians-- Singapore--Biography
Labor unions-- Singapore
Law and government>>Political process>>Leadership
Business, finance and industry>>Economics>>Labour economics>>Labour unions
Librarian Recommendations
>> Singapore's presidents
All Rights Reserved. National Library Board Singapore 2004. -
I heard my grandma said, during his tenure as president of Singapore, he was a womaniser, he got mistresses, lots of girlfrens, drink, get drunk and beat his wife at istana, true or not? Lucky he resigned, if not istana would had become the next geyland
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Your grandma working for PAP, or special assistant to MM ?
It will not be surprising for the efforts to continue to slander him in his grave.
Wife beater ? Womaniser ?
Why will his wife accompany him into exile in Canada then ?
If you are a Bar operator, you should know some of your customers will find solace, comfort and happiness in heavy drinking.
Devan Nair found himself stuck in his 'golden cage' inside the Istana, surrounded 24/7 by "body-guards" - without any useful role that allow him to stay in touch with the heartlanders, whom he has always been a part of.
He made one very grave mistake during a State Visit to Kuching in Sarawak, when at the state banquet held in his honor, he drank himself into a drunken stupor, and forgotting his own status, he made some careless and unthinking advances towards a lady guest.
Beyond the scandals - what had actually happened in his political life and relationship with the PAP leadership that caused him into his heavy dependence of alcohol ?
If only his memoirs were allowed to be published, Singaporeans would have known the events that led to the downfall of Devan Nair - which will remain hidden forever.
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Originally posted by Atobe:
Your grandma working for PAP, or special assistant to MM ?
It will not be surprising for the efforts to continue to slander him in his grave.
Wife beater ? Womaniser ?
Why will his wife accompany him into exile in Canada then ?
If you are a Bar operator, you should know some of your customers will find solace, comfort and happiness in heavy drinking.
Devan Nair found himself stuck in his 'golden cage' inside the Istana, surrounded 24/7 by "body-guards" - without any useful role that allow him to stay in touch with the heartlanders, whom he has always been a part of.
He made one very grave mistake during a State Visit to Kuching in Sarawak, when at the state banquet held in his honor, he drank himself into a drunken stupor, and forgotting his own status, he made some careless and unthinking advances towards a lady guest.
Beyond the scandals - what had actually happened in his political life and relationship with the PAP leadership that caused him into his heavy dependence of alcohol ?
If only his memoirs were allowed to be published, Singaporeans would have known the events that led to the downfall of Devan Nair - which will remain hidden forever.
angel7030 is working as a PROs in Geylang, you;ll never know, maybe she served him before.
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he was a womaniser, he got mistresses, lots of girlfrens, drink, get drunk and beat his wife at istana, true or not?
You are quite gulliable.
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
You are quite gulliable.
If PROs had brains, then they won't be PROs would they?
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I remembered LKY tried to sue Devan Nair in the Supreme Court of Canada but his case was thrown out by the Supreme Court Judges.
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Former president criticises suppression of dissent
March 29, 1999
BY Marcus Gee
IN the Singapore of the early 1980s, Lee Kuan Yew was the captain and Devan Nair his loyal lieutenant. Mr Lee, independence leader, then prime minister and now senior minister of the tiny Southeast Asian city-state, laid down the law. Mr Nair followed it. As head of the national trade union congress, then president of Singapore, he loyally parroted the "LKY" line on the importance of social order, the dangers of Western-style democracy and the evils of littering.
Then, in 1985, came a shocking break. Mr Lee told Singapore's parliament that Mr Nair had resigned because he was an alcoholic, a charge Mr Nair now calls a baseless slur. Three years later, he left Singapore for good after publicly quarrelling with Mr Lee over the arrest of a well-known government critic. Then he dropped from sight.
For the past few years, Mr Nair has been living quietly in Hamilton, Ontario. He has given no interviews and made few public statements. "I thought it was unseemly for a former president to go whacky-whacking his country," he says.
Those days of silence are over Mr Nair has decided to speak out against the continuing suppression of legitimate dissent in his country. And so, last week, he sat down in the sun-lit drawing room of a friend's house near Hamilton to talk about Lee Kuan Yew, how they drew apart and what he thinks of Mr Lee's Singapore today.
Now 75, Mr Nair is a compact man with a mischievous smile. Sipping a glass of water, he speaks in a plummy baritone that commands attention.
Mr Nair got to know his "captain" when the two were fighting to free Singapore from British colonial rule in the 1950s. A teacher whose father emigrated from India, Mr Nair taught Shakespeare while he was a member of the Anti-British League, an irony he still savours. When the British threw him in jail as a subversive, holding him for a total of five years, Mr Lee was his lawyer.
The two remained close after Singapore won its freedom from Britain. Together, they fought off an attempted communist takeover, weathered Singapore's ejection from the neighbouring federation of Malaysia and transformed their country from a run-down sea port to an economic dynamo bristling with skyscrapers. "I supported him because he was an eloquent champion of the dreams I had for Singapore," Mr Nair says.
But as Singapore grew prosperous and stable and the communist threat faded, Mr Nair began to have doubts about his captain's iron-fisted methods. Perhaps sensing his ally's doubts, Mr Lee asked Mr Nair to leave his power base as head of the trade union congress and move into the presidential palace. As Mr Nair puts it, "He kicked me upstairs."
Being president, he says now, was "the silliest job in the world. All you had to do was cut ribbons." His frustration grew.
But before he could speak out, Mr Nair found himself at the centre of a rumour-mongering campaign that labelled him a drinker and womanizer. He says he was neither, and he suspects that Mr Lee had government doctors slip him hallucinatory drugs to make him appear befuddled. "Lee Kuan Yew decided: This man is going to be a threat, so I'd better begin a total demolishment of his character. He's very good at that."
A case in point: the recent battering of Singapore's most determined dissident, J. B. Jeyaretnam. Singapore doesn't lock up its critics any more; it sues them, instead. Mr Jeyaretnam has faced countless libel suits from Mr Lee and other members of his government. If the party doesn't pay the damages in the most recent suit, the government hints it will ask the courts to shut it down, a move that would oust Mr Jeyaretnam from parliament.
That, says Mr Nair, is an outrage. Mr Jeyaretnam has shown "indomitable courage and dignity in the face of the vilest persecution."
Why didn't Mr Nair challenge his leader at the time? That question has haunted him ever since. "I was prone to hero worship and he was our captain," he says, lowering his head. "Even when I began to feel uneasy, loyalty to the captain superseded all other feelings. That was my weakness."
Mr Nair is not bitter. He gives Mr Lee credit for making Singapore a wealthy, stable place, an accomplishment in which he is proud to have shared. But how much greater that accomplishment would be if Singapore were a wealthy stable democracy. To him, Singapore today is a soulless place whose only ideology is materialism. Whether he could have changed that, Mr Nair wishes now he had spoken up earlier.http://www.singapore-window.org/sw99/90329gm.htm
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ya lor dont anyhow say ppl..
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Originally posted by deepak.c:
angel7030 is working as a PROs in Geylang, you;ll never know, maybe she served him before.
wha lau, that time, i still not born lor...but i see alot of those old uncles come in with sunglasses and wigs, well, maybe some are high post people looking for fun. What the hell, just take their money and keep quiet, infact, most of them are rich and generous, my gals actually prefer these old mystery men than those office guys, cos they are more polite, rich in cash and u dun hv to work hard in bed with them. NOt be hor
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
You are quite gulliable.
but that was told to me by my elders and those uncles and aunties in the public, how on earth i know all these, I mean i just state the facts of what the public and the younger generation think of him, it could be a govt propaganda or something which we also dun give a damn, and when he kept denying his wrongdoing, peoples start to label him as Never Deny president -
Are u a pros?