213. Journeys: Tamils in Singapore, 1800-Present by Murugaian Nirmala

BOOK REVIEW: Journeys - Tamils in Singapore, 1800-Present by Murugaian Nirmala

I'm an Indian and a practicing Hindu. Despite being an adopted child by Indian parents (my fathers deep Chettiar roots in Natchanthupatti, India), I was raised with all the Indian customs, traditions and values. I love the colourful capes that life as an Indian offers me. But how much do we really know about our Tamilian origins? This book is an eye-opener to the history of the first Tamils to set foot in Malaya and Singapore and how the Indians have developed over the years.

From South India to Southeast Asia, they came as seafarers, lascars, labourers, coolies, overseers, potters, traders and merchants. They worked on fields, rubber estates, and construction sites, in textile, the jewellery trade and the civil service. Some started off dirt-poor, others well-off, still others found success in Singapore.

Where they lived and prospered, in the Chulia and Market Street areas and in Serangoon Road, shops, homes and temples sprang up, and the traditions the early immigrants brought with them from Tamil Nadu took route and flourished.

Leaders rose from the comunity to lead not just the Tamils but the young multicultural nation of Singapore itself - personalities like early pioneer P Govindasamy Pillai, veteran union leader G Kandasamy and former president S R Nathan.

As Singapore developed into a first-world country, new challenges arose. How, for example, could under-performing Indian pupils in Singapore be helped? What would be the best way to preserve and promote the use of Tamil? What was the future of the community, given that some Indians were leaving Singapore to settle in other countries even as a new wave of Indian immigrants arrived?

In this book, the author, formerly a journalist and editor of Tamil Murasu, takes a clear-eyed look at the early immigrants, the role Tamils played in the tumultous 50s and 60s, and the issues facing the community in more recent times. 

What's more enthralling is that some of the Tamil pioneers in Singapore were born on Malaysian soil, some hailing from Seremban and even Rawang. They embraced Singapore's rapidly growing infrastructure and economy and never looked back. 

Beautifully written to give true meaning into who we are as Tamils, it creates a sense of responsibility to upholding our own race and identity even in the face of adversity and even discrimination. Vaalga tamil makkalae!