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Chengara Veetil Devan Nair

C. V. Devan Nair
C V Devan Nair.jpg
Devan Nair
3rd President of Singapore
In office
23 October 1981 – 27 March 1985
Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (1959–1990)
Preceded by Benjamin Henry Sheares
Succeeded by Wee Kim Wee
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Anson
In office
5 March 1979 – 13 October 1981
Preceded by P. Govindaswamy
Succeeded by J. B. Jeyaretnam
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Bungsar, Selangor
In office
18 May 1964 – 20 March 1969
Preceded by V. David
Succeeded by Goh Hock Guan
Secretary-General of
the Malaysian People's Action Party
In office
14 August 1965 – 9 September 1965
Preceded by Lee Kuan Yew
(Singapore and Malaysia)
Succeeded by Position abolished
Secretary-General of
the Democratic Action Party
In office
11 October 1965 – 30 July 1967
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Goh Hock Guan
Personal details
Born Devan Nair Chengara Veetil
(1923-08-05)5 August 1923
Melaka, Straits Settlements (now Malaysia)
Died 6 December 2005(2005-12-06) (aged 82)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Nationality Malaysian; Singaporean
Political party People's Action Party (1954–1965, 1969–1981)
Democratic Action Party (1965–1969)
Spouse(s) Avadai Dhanam
Children 4
Profession Labour unionist
Religion Hinduism

Devan Nair Chengara Veetil, also known as C. V. Devan Nair (5 August 1923 – 6 December 2005), was a Malaysian and Singaporean politician. He served as the third President of Singapore. Before his presidency, Nair led the Singaporean trade union movement and founded the National Trades Union Congress in 1961. He had also founded the Democratic Action Party in Malaysia. He was elected by the Parliament of Singapore on 23 October 1981, and served as President until his resignation on 28 March 1985.

Born on August 5, 1923 in Malacca, he was the son of a rubber plantation clerk, I.V.K. Nair, who was originally from Thalassery, Kerala. He and his family migrated to Singapore when he was 10 years old and he received his primary education at Rangoon Road Primary School before enrolling in Victoria School for his secondary education where he passed his Senior Cambridge examination in 1940.

After the second World War, Nair became a Normal Trained teacher and taught at St Joseph's Institution and later, at St Andrew's School. In 1949, he became General Secretary of the Singapore Teachers' Union.

Initially, a member of the Communist Anti-British League, he joined Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party (PAP) in 1954. He was the only PAP member to win in the Malaysian general election, 1964, winning the Bangsar constituency, near Kuala Lumpur. He stayed in Malaysia after the Separation, forming the Democratic Action Party, but returned to Singapore to lead the National Trades Union Congress, the labour union movement which he helped establish in 1961. Once during his political action during the 1950s, Devan Nair was detained in a Singapore prison by the British government. There, he read the writings of Sri Aurobindo, particularly the Life Divine and became his lifelong admirer and disciple. He visited Pondicherry and nearby Auroville a number of times and wrote and spoke on Sri Aurobindo's vision in the United States, Canada and other countries.


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