Devan Nair
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His Excellency C. V. Devan Nair |
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|---|---|
Devan Nair
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| 3rd President of Singapore | |
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In office 23 October 1981 – 27 March 1985 |
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| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew (1959–1990) |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Henry Sheares |
| Succeeded by | Wee Kim Wee |
| Member of the Singapore Parliament for Anson |
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In office 5 March 1979 – 13 October 1981 |
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| Preceded by | P. Govindaswamy |
| Succeeded by | J. B. Jeyaretnam |
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Bungsar, Selangor |
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In office 18 May 1964 – 20 March 1969 |
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| Preceded by | V. David |
| Succeeded by | Goh Hock Guan |
| Secretary-General of the Malaysian People's Action Party |
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In office 14 August 1965 – 9 September 1965 |
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| Preceded by |
Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore and Malaysia) |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Secretary-General of the Democratic Action Party |
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In office 11 October 1965 – 30 July 1967 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Goh Hock Guan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Devan Nair Chengara Veetil 5 August 1923 Melaka, Straits Settlements (now Malaysia) |
| Died | 6 December 2005 (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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