E. E. C. Thuraisingham
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Datuk Sir Ernest Emmanuel Clough Thuraisingham or E.E.C. Thuraisingham was the first local Member (Minister) for Education in the Communities Liaison Committee formed to build communal fraternity in British-ruled Malaya, from 1951 – 1955. He is also the first Asian chairman of the Selangor Turf Club.
Better known by his last two names, Clough Thuraisingham’s passion to do the best for Malaya was matched only by his love of horse racing and his large American car, a Chevrolet Impala. He was also popularly known in the horse racing fraternity as "The Dato". His dream was to see a united Malaya and stood for racial equality.
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[edit] Early life
Thuraisingham of Sri Lankan Tamil origin, was born in Taiping (Perak) on 28th August 1898. He was the second son and child among five children of Kasinathar and Meenachi Clough.
After graduating on 19 December 1922 with a BA degree in Law & Political Economy at Cambridge University, and in order to practice law, Thuraisingham studied and did his pupillage at Middle Temple in the Inns of Court in London and became a Barrister-at-Law in 1924. Urged by his father, Kasinathar Clough, Thuraisingham set up a legal practice in Singapore in 1925. Being so close to Johore meant that he could also manage his father's large rubber estate in Scudai across the causeway as his parents and siblings had moved back to Jaffna in Sri-Lanka by then.
His love for horse riding and for horse racing was shared by the Sultan of Johore; together they owned a Class 1 stallion, Heroden, winner of several cups in the 1930s. This alliance led Thuraisingham to Onn Jaafar with whom he forged a close friendship that culminated in a political camaraderie that lasted over three decades. They also enjoyed being in each other's company. This camaraderie was to have very significant political implications for the desire of the British-ruled Malayan people to become self-governing and independent. With the imminent Japanese occupation of Singapore, Thuraisingham then moved with his wife to Kuala Lumpur in 1942. His camaraderie with Dato Onn strengthened with the Japanese occupation of mainland Malaya fueling their common desire for Malayan independence.
[edit] Family & Professional Life
Thuraisingham married Pearl Sayampanathan, a school teacher he met at a friend's house in Singapore in 1929, with whom he had three children. Pearl's death in 1947 from a medical mishap devastated him. This happened at a time when the politics of race was complicating the vision of Dato Onn for an independent multiracial Malaya. Typically, Thuraisingham managed to juggle family life with the many demands of his political endeavours and legal career.
Sometime later Thuraisingham married Thayamany Muthuvelu and between them they had four children. Together they raised seven children in a house often filled with visiting relatives, friends and political allies. At any one time they also had several dogs, a cat, pidgeons (with a purpose-built pidgeon house), chickens, ducks and geese. Several fruit trees also adorned the garden at the Treacher Road house from which fresh fruit could be picked and eaten by anyone visiting. Laughter and chaos often reigned within the Thuraisingham household. Holidays at Port Dickson usually included relatives and friends while political allies were no strangers to the resort house too.
Dato Onn was also a frequent visitor. Dato Onn's favourite posture was sitting with both his feet off the ground folded together on the armchair and drinking tea from the saucer while discussing political strategy with Thuraisingham in the piano room at the Treacher Road house. While together at the house, both loved to be casual often wearing the sarong.
Dato Thuraisingham's race horses captured the imagination of the racing public. Sporting Gesture the First won the Selangor Turf Club (STC) Class 1 Division 1 Gold Vase in 1952. Another horse, aptly named Commotion, often created havoc before the gates were opened and ran like the thunder to win the mile (circa 1959) at the STC. Yet another horse, Bowdler, broke the 6-furlong sprint record at the STC (circa 1960) which remained unbroken for several years.
Dato Thuraisingham's law office for many years was above a general store at Ampang Street, the business and retail center of the Indian and Ceylonese community in downtown Kuala Lumpur, before he moved (in 1968) to the Kwong Yik Bank Building nearby. Among his clientele were rich Chinese businessmen whose trust he won which also enabled him to provide pro-bono (i.e. free) legal services to those who could not pay. His office was adorned with thank you plaques from his Chinese clients dating over three decades. For a time one of his partners was Senator Athi Nahappan, a well-respected younger member of the Indian community.
Datin Lady Thayamany Thuraisingham was a devoted wife to Dato Thuraisingham. She also nursed him lovingly during his ailing years at their home in Bukit Travers.
[edit] Political career
In May 1946 Dato Onn became the first leader of the United Malays National Organization ("UMNO"). Onn, Thuraisingham and several others, which included Henry H.S. Lee and V.M.N. Menon, became the vanguard of the multiracial Malayan independence movement. In response to this movement and the specter of the UN anti-colonial stance, the British instituted self-government and Dato Onn became Member (Minister) of Home Affairs while Dato Thuraisingham became Member (Minister) of Education.
As the first Member of Education in the Federation of Malaya, Thuraisingham established a comprehensive system of education beginning in 1951 to provide free education for all children between six and twelve years of age thus implementing the recommendations of the Barnes and Fenn Reports he presented to the Federal Legislative Council on 19th September 1951. He stated: "The Barnes and Fenn Reports are before you and I trust that all of you have read them. The one single factor that emerges from these two reports is the urgency with which all our education must be modelled to create a singleness in our plural society and build on it a powerful Malayan nation". He went on to say: "The comradeship among children of all races from a multi-racial school which ripens into friendship in adult years is of inestimable value for knitting together the different races".
Implementing the Barnes and Fenn Reports meant that more teachers were needed and so he established a teacher's training college in Kota Bharu and also leased teacher's training facilities at Kirkby and Brinsford Lodge in England. He also had more schools built, especially in rural areas.
In addition, Thuraisingham was one of the prime movers of the Social Welfare Lotteries System which financed the provision of welfare services to the poor of all races in Malaya.
The two friends, Onn Jafaar and Thuraisingham, were firm believers of multiracialism in politics, opposed by rising star Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Thuraisingham worried about the growing wedge between Onn and the Tunku, arranged for a meeting at his home in Treacher Road (now Jalan Sultan Ismail) for both men to settle their differences. The meeting, which took place in the piano room, lasted the whole night but the two could not come to an agreement. A second meeting was arranged and that too failed.
Disappointed with the racial slant in Malayan politics, Thuraisingham resigned as Member for Education in 1955.
“On the way back from a visit to a teacher’s training college in Kota Bharu, he came straight to me and told me he wanted to resign and return to his law practice and social work. I thought he had worked hard enough and since he wanted to practice again, I supported him,” said his wife Datin Thayamany in an interview to New Sunday Times (31st December 2006).
Useful References
[1] Some of Thuraisingham's memorable speeches at the Federal Legislative Council can be found in the following text: SELECTED SPEECHES - a Golden Treasury of Asian Thought and Wisdom; Pages 167 - 182; Edited and Published by J.V.Morais (circa 1967).
[2] The first Prime Minister published a book which mentions some of the activities of Dato Onn and Dato Thuraisingham: VIEWPOINTS by Tengku Abdul Rahman, Heineman (Asia), 1978.
[edit] Contributions
In 1950 the Sultan of Johore bestowed the title of Dato Paduka Makota Johore ("DPMJ") on Thuraisingham. In addition, Thuraisingham was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on July 10, 1955 for his services to the country and Malayan education. He also received a CBE from King George V in 1948 and the Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) from the University of Singapore in 1953.
Thuraisingham, the first leader of the Ceylon Federation of Malaya, a political party representing the small Tamilian community from Sri Lanka, was appointed a senator in 1957, retiring in 1974 due to ill health. Despite his failing health, he continued as Chairman of MAPTB till his death at age 80, as he took seriously the challenges of TB prevention. The TB Diagnostic Clinic in Setapak is named after Dato Thuraisingham.
Among the many committees he served on, he especially enjoyed being Chairman of the Selangor Turf Club (on Ampang Road), a popular position he held for over 20 years overseeing the massive development of the turf club from a small colonial racing club to one that many Malaysians were proud to participate in; that included relishing in the delights of Malaysian cuisine of all ethnicities in booths that lined the roads to and around the turf club during racing events while betting on horses - for most an enjoyable pastime and an exciting day at the races.
Dato Sir Clough Thuraisingham died in the early hours of the morning of 30th March 1979. Among the many mourners attending the funeral was Tun Hussein Onn, the son of his dear friend Dato Sir Onn bin Jaafar. Tun Hussein Onn was Prime Minister of Malaysia in 1979 - one could say a befitting and poetic end to an important and utopian era in Malaysian politics.
