Dato' Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The title of the wife of Datuk is Datin. Origin The oldes ...

Pathmanaban a/l Kunjamboo or K. Pathmanaban ( ta, கே. பத்மனாபன், Ē. Puttānaṉpaṉ) is a former Malaysian deputy minister, vice-president of Malaysian Indian Congress and founder of Melaka Manipal Medical College.

Early life

Born in Bukit Bertam Estate,

Linggi Linggi is a mukim and town in Port Dickson District, Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders S ...

, Negeri Sembilan, he obtained his Master of Arts in Public Administration in Economic Development from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He was among the first batch of Bachelor of Arts graduates majoring in Economics from the

University of Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

in 1959. Before venturing into politics, he served as Assistant Secretary of the Labour and Manpower Ministry from 1960 and Director of Social Economics in the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Prime Minister's Department from 1968 until his resignation to contest the

Teluk Kemang Teluk Kemang is a small town south of Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Telok Kemang town is situated at the 11th kilometer on Jalan Pantai. The eponymous beach of Teluk Kemang is the main highlight of the town, known for its fine sands ...

parliamentary seat in 1974.

Political career

Pathmanaban was initially encouraged to join the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and enter politics by

Tun Abdul Razak Tun Haji Abdul Razak bin Dato' Hussein ( ms, عبد الرزاق بن حسين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 11 March 1922 – 14 January 1976) was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia ...

, who saw his potential and his education from a prestigious university as invaluable. He was inducted by the then president of MIC, Tan Sri V. Manickavasagam, as part of his process of infusing new blood into the party, especially those who are young, well-educated and could contribute to the party. He served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for four terms. Prior to that, he joined the Malaysian Indian Congress in 1974 and the following year was a member of the MIC Central Working Committee. Pathmanaban served as MIC vice-president for three terms from 1979 until his retirement from active politics in 1991. Pathmanaban actively fought for the rights of Malaysian Indians, especially in the field of education. He realised the importance education could bring about in uplifting the Indian community. He headed the MIC's Education Bureau and used to collect information on all students rejected by government universities. Pathmanaban used to lead MIC delegations to visit every vice-chancellor to give more places to Malaysian Indian students who had just missed the cut-off point. In fact, the

Malaysian Chinese Association The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; zh, 马来西亚华人公会; ; ta, மலேசிய சீனர் சங்கம், initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that seeks to ...

used to be jealous of the MIC in having this special privilege.Samy Vellu and the Blue Book
/ref> The former MIC vice-president was Deputy Labour and Manpower Minister for five years from 1976. Pathmanaban was Deputy Health Minister for seven years from 1981. He last served in the government as Deputy Human Resources Minister from June 1989 to October 1990. His retirement from politics was apparently due to differences with MIC president, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

Social Service

Following his retirement, Pathmanaban was active in social service. He felt there was nothing greater than helping a fellow man. He actively sought ways to help the poor and disadvantaged

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

community in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. He also served as a member of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) following the setting up of the commission until his demise. Pathmanaban was the founding chairman of Melaka Manipal Medical College. He was instrumental in getting both the Prime Ministers and governments of

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to give their nod for his pet project which offers a twinning medical programme between both countries. His main purpose of setting up the medical college was to provide high quality medical education opportunities to Malaysians at an affordable price, particularly for Malaysians of

ethnicity.

Demise

Datuk K. Pathmanaban died due to kidney and liver failure at the Pantai Medical Centre in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

at around 1am on 9 June 2001. He was just one day short of his 64th birthday. His remains were cremated at the Hindu crematorium in Cheras and the ashes were taken to

Port Dickson Port Dickson (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Podeksen'', Jawi: ) is a beach resort in Port Dickson District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. It is the second largest urban area in Negeri Sembilan after Seremban, its state capital. The town's admin ...

to be scattered in the sea according to

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

rites.

References

Malaysiakini.com - Samy Vellu and the Blue Book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pathmanaban, K. 1937 births 2001 deaths People from Negeri Sembilan Malaysian politicians Malaysian politicians of Tamil descent Malaysian Hindus Malaysian politicians of Indian descent Harvard Kennedy School alumni Manipal Academy of Higher Education alumni