{"id":20428,"date":"2022-07-24T17:43:59","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T09:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianhalloffame.sg\/?page_id=20428"},"modified":"2022-07-24T17:46:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T09:46:26","slug":"g-sarangapany","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/indianhalloffame.sg\/?page_id=20428","title":{"rendered":"G Sarangapany"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sarangapany, who was also known by his honorific name *Thamizavel’, meaning “attained the highest level’ in Tamil, was the founding publisher-cum-managing editor of ‘Tamil Murasu’, a Tamil newspaper established in 1935 in Malaya and Singapore and the only Tamil daily which continues its run in Singapore till today.<\/span><\/p>\n Sarangapany co-founded the Tamil Reform Association and headed it until his demise on 16 March 1974. He opposed the Hindu caste system, superstitions and alcoholism. Most importantly, he will be remembered for his untiring efforts promoting the growth of the Tamil language in Singapore and Malaya.<\/span><\/p>\n As a reformist, he encouraged mixed marriages amongst the different castes and personally officiated such marriages throughout Singapore and Malaya travelling at his own expense.<\/span><\/p>\n He was single-handedly responsible for the campaign to make Tamil one of the four official languages of Singapore. He used his good offices with the then Chief Minister David Marshall and Lim Yew Hock, in the late 1950s, and later with PM LKY to ensure Tamil was taught in schools. As a result, all English language schools in Singapore offered Tamil as a second language. Thousands of Indians benefitted from his tremendous efforts. He was also responsible for establishing the Department of Indian Studies at the then University of Malaya in Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n Through his Tamil Murasu daily, the Tamils Representative Council and the Tamil Reform Association, Sarangapany (also known by his initials KOSA) personally spearheaded the campaign for citizenship to all Indian migrants who were either permanent residents or stateless.<\/span><\/p>\n When the government of the day finally offered citizenship to all in 1957, he personally encouraged and appealed to all to take up citizenship. Thousands benefitted from his great efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n In order to keep the arts, language and culture alive and flourishing, he started, in the 1950s, to organise the annual Thamilar Thirunaal (Tamils’ Gala Day or Tamils’ Festival) in a big way. He had the support of the Tamils’ umbrella body, Tamils Representative Council, of which <\/span>he was the chairman.<\/span><\/p>\n The celebrations consisted of cultural, sports and literary activities and the whole Tamil community wound participate in them with great enthusiasm. Many great poets and philosophers from Tamil Nadu, Malaysia and Singapore spoke on matters of literary importance. Their splendiferous Tamil oratorical skills wowed the crowd. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Tamil is the spoken and written language among the majority of Indians in Singapore. Sarangapany’s efforts to promote the language contributed to the prevalence of the language among Indians.” <\/span><\/p>\n ~ Lee <\/span>Kuan Yew, First Prime Minister of Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “His contributions span more than half a century in the Social and literary fields. He pushed the Tamils vigorously to acquire education and Singapore citizenships, personally going around with application forms for people to fill up and apply.” <\/span><\/p>\n ~ SR Nathan, Sixth President, <\/span>Republic of Singapore on Sarangapany.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1658507093882{border-radius: 10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”20429″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1658655713209{margin-top: 100px !important;margin-left: 120px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1658655984511{margin-top: 100px !important;margin-right: 120px !important;margin-bottom: 100px !important;margin-left: 120px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;border-radius: 10px !important;}”] G Sarangapany Inaugural Excellence Award For Arts, Culture, Tamil Language & Literature Sarangapany, who was also known by his honorific name *Thamizavel’, meaning “attained the highest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":13046,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width.php","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20428","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n