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Devan Nair
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Devan Nair
Chengara Veetil Devan Nair BBM (5 August 1923 – 6 December 2005) was a Singaporean union leader and politician who served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resignation in 1985.
Politically active in both Malaysia and Singapore, Nair was a communist in his youth, having been affiliated with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). He held strong anti-colonial views and advocated for Singapore's self-determination at a time when it was still a British colony, which led to his detention by the British authorities in 1951. In 1954, he joined the People's Action Party (PAP). He was detained once more following the Chinese middle school student riots in 1956 and remained in custody until the PAP's landslide victory in the 1959 general election, after which he was released. In 1961, he founded the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and served as its Secretary-General until 1965.
During his parliamentary career, Nair was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Malaysian constituency of Bangsar between 1964 and 1969 and for the Singapore constituency of Anson between 1979 and 1981. Prior to his presidency, Nair was Secretary-General of the People's Action Party of Malaya prior to Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia and continued to serve after the expulsion under its new name Democratic Action Party (DAP) which he founded until 1967.
Nair would soon return to Singapore and echoed his leftist beliefs by becoming involved in the labour movement, including serving as Secretary-General of the NTUC once more between 1970 and 1979, before taking up the presidency in 1981. He was succeeded by Wee Kim Wee on 2 September 1985. After his presidency in 1985, Nair retired from politics and briefly moved to the United States before moving again to live out his final years in Hamilton, Canada, when he died there at the age of 82 of dementia in 2005.
Born on 5 August 1923 in Malacca during British colonial rule. Of Malayali ancestry, Nair was the son of a rubber plantation clerk, I. V. Karunakaran Nair of the Illathu Veettil family, who was originally from Thalassery, Kerala, British India.
Nair and his family emigrated to Singapore when he was ten years old and he received his primary education at Rangoon Road Primary School before enrolling into Victoria School for his secondary education where he passed his Senior Cambridge examination in 1940.
After the Second World War, Nair became a teacher at St Joseph's Institution and later, at St Andrew's School. In 1949, he became General-Secretary of the Singapore Teachers' Union. His disdain for colonial rule was apparent in those days, as he changed the lyrics of "Rule, Britannia!" to anti-British ones in a school choir performance before a British guest-of-honour.
Nair was initially a member of the Communist Anti-British League before joining Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party (PAP) in 1954. Nair had been detained in 1951 by the British for anti-colonial activities. In 1955, Nair contested the 1955 Singaporean general election but lost – becoming the only PAP candidate who did not get elected.
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Devan Nair
Chengara Veetil Devan Nair BBM (5 August 1923 – 6 December 2005) was a Singaporean union leader and politician who served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resignation in 1985.
Politically active in both Malaysia and Singapore, Nair was a communist in his youth, having been affiliated with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). He held strong anti-colonial views and advocated for Singapore's self-determination at a time when it was still a British colony, which led to his detention by the British authorities in 1951. In 1954, he joined the People's Action Party (PAP). He was detained once more following the Chinese middle school student riots in 1956 and remained in custody until the PAP's landslide victory in the 1959 general election, after which he was released. In 1961, he founded the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and served as its Secretary-General until 1965.
During his parliamentary career, Nair was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Malaysian constituency of Bangsar between 1964 and 1969 and for the Singapore constituency of Anson between 1979 and 1981. Prior to his presidency, Nair was Secretary-General of the People's Action Party of Malaya prior to Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia and continued to serve after the expulsion under its new name Democratic Action Party (DAP) which he founded until 1967.
Nair would soon return to Singapore and echoed his leftist beliefs by becoming involved in the labour movement, including serving as Secretary-General of the NTUC once more between 1970 and 1979, before taking up the presidency in 1981. He was succeeded by Wee Kim Wee on 2 September 1985. After his presidency in 1985, Nair retired from politics and briefly moved to the United States before moving again to live out his final years in Hamilton, Canada, when he died there at the age of 82 of dementia in 2005.
Born on 5 August 1923 in Malacca during British colonial rule. Of Malayali ancestry, Nair was the son of a rubber plantation clerk, I. V. Karunakaran Nair of the Illathu Veettil family, who was originally from Thalassery, Kerala, British India.
Nair and his family emigrated to Singapore when he was ten years old and he received his primary education at Rangoon Road Primary School before enrolling into Victoria School for his secondary education where he passed his Senior Cambridge examination in 1940.
After the Second World War, Nair became a teacher at St Joseph's Institution and later, at St Andrew's School. In 1949, he became General-Secretary of the Singapore Teachers' Union. His disdain for colonial rule was apparent in those days, as he changed the lyrics of "Rule, Britannia!" to anti-British ones in a school choir performance before a British guest-of-honour.
Nair was initially a member of the Communist Anti-British League before joining Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party (PAP) in 1954. Nair had been detained in 1951 by the British for anti-colonial activities. In 1955, Nair contested the 1955 Singaporean general election but lost – becoming the only PAP candidate who did not get elected.
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