V. Manickavasagam ( ta, மாணிக்கவாசகம் பிள்ளை, Māṇikkavācakam piḷḷai; 4 October 1926 – 12 October 1979) was a

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as Minister of Communications. He was a member and served as 6th President of the

Malaysian Indian Congress The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC; ta, மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ், Malēciya Intiya Kāṅkiras; formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress) is a Malaysian political party. It is one of the founding membe ...

(MIC), a component party of the ruling

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...

(BN) coalition from June 1973 to his death in October 1979.

President of MIC

Manickavasagam became president of MIC as a result of increased resistance of the grassroot members to Tun V.T. Sambanthan's style of leadership, who had been president of the party for 18 years. Under Manickavasagam's leadership, the MIC was put on a strong footing with buildings, offices and staff in various parts of the country and the party system organised and its capacity to deal with issues enhanced. It was during this period that the MIC, as member of the Alliance, became part of the

. The party sponsored the Nesa Multipurpose Cooperative and the MIC Unit Trust as part of its programme for economic ventures, and also set up the MIC Education Fund for members' children and the Malaysian Indian Scholarship Fund for higher education as well as acquiring an Institute for training Indians in technical and trade skills.

Blue Book

Manickavasagam had a vision for the

Malaysian Indian Malaysian Indians or Indian Malaysians are Malaysian citizens of Indian or South Asian ancestry. Today, they form the third-largest group in Malaysia after the Malays and the Chinese. Most are descendants of those who migrated from India durin ...

community. He organised the First Indian Economic Seminar and as a result the ''Blue Book'' came about. It was a development plan for the economic growth of the Indian community. The Blue Book was an orchestrated effort of a think-tank of top Indian business, political and education leaders collaborating to augment the future of the

community. Maika Holdings and Maju Institute of Education and Development (MIED) and others are a direct result of the Blue Book.
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Infusing new blood

When Manickavasagam became president of the

, he decided to introduce new faces to the party in leadership positions. This was the time when

S. Subramaniam Subramaniam s/o Sinniah ( ta, சி. சுப்ரமணியம், Ci. Cupramaṇiyam; 6 October 1944 – 5 July 2022), or S. Subramaniam as he was known to his supporters, was a Malaysian politician of Indian origin who was a member of ...

, K. Pathmanaban, a Harvard MBA holder, and several others entered the political arena to infuse new blood into MIC, and Manickavasagam gave them preference. They were young, well-educated and ambitious but lacked grassroots experience. This made

S. Samy Vellu Tun Samy Vellu s/o Sangalimuthu ( ta, சாமிவேலு சங்கிலிமுத்து, Cāmivēlu Caṅkilimuttu; 8 March 1936 – 15 September 2022) was a Malaysian politician who served as Minister of Works from June 1983 ...

, who was then MIC vice-president, bitter as he felt he was being sidelined. Samy Vellu was one of the five leaders who dared defy former president

V.T. Sambanthan Tun Thirunyanasambanthan s/o Veerasamy ( ta, திருஞானசம்பந்தன், Tiruñāṉacampantaṉ; 16 June 1919 – 18 May 1979) also known as V.T. Sambanthan, was a Malayan and Malaysian politician who served as Ministe ...

and propel Manickavasagam to the presidency of the party. Subramaniam, then the secretary general of MIC, was hand-picked by Manickavasagam to become deputy president and succeed him. However, Samy Vellu fought back, literally, and in the 1977 party elections he managed to beat Subramaniam by a mere 26 votes to become the Deputy President of MIC.

Demise

Manickavasagam died in 1979 while still in office. His deputy,

was made acting president of MIC and remained president until 6 December 2010.

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

* : ** Companion of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (JMN) (1958) * : ** Malaysian_Commemorative_Medal_ribbon

Recipient of the Malaysian Commemorative Medal (Gold) (PPM) (1965) ** Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (PMN) – Tan Sri (1970) * : ** MY-SEL Order of the Crown of Selangor - Knight Grand Commander - SPMS

MY-SEL Order of the Crown of Selangor - Knight Grand Commander - SPMS

Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor (SPMS) – Dato' Seri (1970)

References

Malaysiakini.com - Samy Vellu and the Blue Book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manickavasagam, V. 1926 births 1979 deaths People from Selangor Malaysian Hindus Malaysian politicians of Tamil descent Malaysian politicians of Indian descent Presidents of Malaysian Indian Congress Government ministers of Malaysia Transport ministers of Malaysia Members of the Dewan Rakyat Companions of the Order of the Defender of the Realm Commanders of the Order of the Defender of the Realm Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor