V. David

David S. Vethamuthu (26 August 1932 – 10 July 2005) was a Malaysian unionist and former opposition politician. He won a seat in the Malaysian parliament four times, representing the constituencies of Bangsar, Dato' Kramat, Damansara and Puchong. He also the youngest member of Malaysian parliament at the age of 26. While in parliament, he was known to be fearless and vocal in raising issues concerning the Indian community in Malaysia. He later became the Chairman of the World Tamil Association in 1984. He is famously known for making Labour Day as public holiday in Malaysia.

David was a founding member and secretary of Selangor Factories Association in 1953. He was known as 'King David' among local and international trade union circles and served as MTUC secretary-general from 1976 to 1992. He was also the Transport Workers Union secretary-general from 1958 to 1995.

David was best known for setting up the Workers Institute of Technology (WIT) in Port Klang in the early 1970s, which provided education opportunities for thousands of workers' children over the years.

At the international level, he served as the executive board member of the International Transport Federation and the International Confederation of Free Trade Union, and represented Malaysian workers at numerous International Labour Organisation (ILO) conferences in Geneva, Switzerland.

He was elected as Kuala Lumpur town councillor and became the Transport Workers Union's secretary in 1958. In 1959, he was elected Bangsar Member of Parliament under the ticket of the Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front as well as the state seat of Pantai, both in Selangor. However, in 1964, he lost his seat to Devan Nair of the People's Action Party although he kept his state seat.

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