K. Pathmanaban

Datuk K. Pathmanaban is a former Malaysian deputy minister, vice-president of Malaysian Indian Congress and founder of Melaka Manipal Medical College.

Born in Bukit Bertam Estate, Linggi, Negeri Sembilan, he obtained his Master of Arts in Public Administration in Economic Development from Harvard University.

He was among the first batch of Bachelor of Arts graduates majoring in Economics from the University of Malaya in Singapore in 1959. Before venturing into politics, he served as Assistant Secretary of the Labour and Manpower Ministry from 1960 and Director of Social Economics in the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Prime Minister's Department from 1968 until his resignation to contest the Teluk Kemang parliamentary seat in 1974.

Pathmanaban was initially encouraged to join the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and enter politics by Tun Abdul Razak, who saw his potential and his education from a prestigious university as invaluable. He was inducted by the then president of MIC, Tan Sri V. Manickavasagam, as part of his process of infusing new blood into the party, especially those who are young, well-educated and could contribute to the party.

He served as Teluk Kemang Member of Parliament for four terms. Prior to that, he joined the Malaysian Indian Congress in 1974 and the following year was a member of the MIC Central Working Committee. Pathmanaban served as MIC vice-president for three terms from 1979 until his retirement from active politics in 1991.

Pathmanaban actively fought for the rights of Malaysian Indians, especially in the field of education. He realised the importance education could bring about in uplifting the Indian community.

He headed the MIC's Education Bureau and used to collect information on all students rejected by government universities. Pathmanaban used to lead MIC delegations to visit every vice-chancellor to give more places to Malaysian Indian students who had just missed the cut-off point. In fact, the Malaysian Chinese Association used to be jealous of the MIC in having this special privilege.

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