MPD Nair
Inaugural Excellence Award For Political Achievement (Pre-Independence)
Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair (more commonly known as MPD Nair) was born on 12 March 1920 in Cannanoor, Kerala. Always the traveler, he followed his fellow adventurers to start a new life in Sitiawan, Perak, Malaysia in 1936 and then to Singapore, after the war.
Nair played an important role for the Tamil language during the 50s. He was part of the committee formed by Singapore’s first Chief Minister David Marshall. Marshall’s first important tasks in elected office was the introduction of equal opportunities to all races in the field of education and language.
He formed the all-party committee on education on 25 May 1955 and the team was headed by the Minister for Education Chew Swee Kee (Labour Front). The other members included: Minister for Labour Lim Yew Hock (Labour Front), Minister for Local Government Abdul Hamid Bin Haji Jumat (Alliance), Richard Chuan Hoe Lim (Labour Front), Wong Foo Nam (Alliance), Goh Tong Liang (Progressive), Lim Cher Kheng (Democrat), Lee Kuan Yew (People’s Action Party PAP) and Nair, an Independent. Future Prime Minister Lee’s inclusion in the all-important committee created the pathway for Singapore’s bilingualism policy of the future.
These aims were the underlying principles for the main recommendations in the government’s ‘White Paper on Education Policy’ which was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 12 April 1956.
The Education White Paper was an excellent piece of legislation initiated by David Marshall during the short tenure of his office. Salutations are due to him and his team’s great vision and achievements which guaranteed a level playing field for all races irrespective of colour or creed.
Nair started his career in 1946 with the British civil administration. He always had the well—being of workers in mind and this inspired him to be involved with the labour movement and was a founding member of the Army Civil Services Union (ACSU) in 1948.
Nair was one of the founding members of the Singapore Trade Union Congress (STUC). This was established to represent the labour movement in Singapore. Together with his future father—in—law, VK
Nair JP, they represented workers towards better conditions under the British civil administration.
Nair entered politics when he was the co—founder of the Singapore Labour Party. He was elected as a member of the Singapore City Council (1950-1953) and member of the Legislative Council (1955) representing Seletar constituency. In 1956, he was appointed Assistant Minister to Chief Minister David Marshall’s cabinet and subsequently, appointed Minister of Communications in Lim Yew Hook’s government, until the party’s defeat at the 1959 General Elections (GE).
Following his loss in the 1959 GE, Mr Nair decided to pursue a career in law He then left for University College London to read law. Upon his return to Singapore three years later, Nair established his own law practice.
While practicing law, Nair also continued his political career. He was one of the founding members of The Singapore People’s Alliance and The Worker’s Party. As the opposition, he contested in several GEs representing constituents living in Seletar, Bukit Merah, Thomson, Farrer Park and Jalan Kayu. Nair participated in GEs opposing the PAP from 1966 to his untimely death in 1989.
Following the GE in December 1984, with two opposition members voted into Parliament, one Non Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat was offered to Nair, as he polled the highest score amongst all of the opposition candidates. His 48.8% return of votes for Jalan Kayu was only 571 votes less than the eventual winner. As the Worker’s Party did not feel that the idea of a NCMP was doing justice to the philosophy of a parliamentary system, Nair turned the offer down. Nair’s passion has always been with the people, for the good of the people. This philosophy carried on throughout his career as a politician and a lawyer. As a minority, he was able to use his influence to help those deprived of proper representation. As a lawyer, he worked on many cases, pro—bono. As a politician, he used his skills to represent the grievances of all races to the authorities.
Family
Nair married Sushiela Nair in January, 1957. They had three children, sons Revi and Kesavan and daughter Sharmila. Since then, the family has grown to include 3 grandchildren.