Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Devan Nair

Flag of Singapore. Photo by Seungyeon kim. Unsplash

Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Devan Nair

Devan Nair Chengara Veetil BBM was born on 5th August 1923. He died on 6th December 2005. He’s also known as C. V. Devan Nair. Devan Nair was a Malayan-born Singaporean politician who served as Singapore’s third president from 1981 to 1985.

After Benjamin Sheares died in office, Parliament elected him to succeed him as President of Singapore. On October 23, 1981, Nair was sworn in as President. Nair resigned on March 28, 1985, for unknown reasons.

Nair served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Anson from 1979 to 1981, and Bungsar, Selangor from 1964 to 1969. Before being elected President of Singapore by the Singapore Parliament, he served as Secretary-General of the Malaysian People’s Action Party in 1965 and as the first Secretary-General of the Democratic Action Party between 1965 and 1967.

Nair passed away on December 6, 2005, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

1. Devan Nair’s early life

He was the son of a rubber plantation clerk, Illathu Veettil Karunakaran Nair, who was originally from Thalassery, Kerala, India. He and his family moved to Singapore when he was ten years old, and he attended Rangoon Road Primary School for his primary education before enrolling in Victoria School for his secondary education, where he passed his Senior Cambridge examination in 1940. 

His contempt for colonial rule was evident in those days, when he changed the lyrics of Rule Britannia to anti-British ones in front of a British guest of honor in a school choir performance. 

2. He was the secretary of the Singapore Factory and Shop workers’ Union

The logo of the Singapore Teachers’ Union. Photo by Singapore Teachers’ Union. Wikimedia

Following the Japanese occupation (1942-45), Nair entered the teaching profession because there was a severe shortage of teachers. He began his career as a teacher at St Joseph’s Institution and later moved on to St Andrew’s School. During this time, he became interested in the labor movement. In 1949, he was appointed general secretary of the Singapore Teachers’ Union. 

In 1951, British authorities detained Nair for participating in anti-colonial activities. Despite the difficulties, his concern for the welfare of workers drove him to return to trade union activities soon after his release in April 1953. He was the secretary of the Singapore Factory and Shop workers’ Union at the time.

3. He became one of the government’s harshest critics

He slammed Lee’s “malevolent hidden persona” in relation to the prosecution of Francis Seow. Not only that, but he also objected to the concentration of power in the hands of a single individual.

Given the economic situation at that time, it was a running battle with the government from afar. It was pushed to the periphery of Singaporeans’ consciousness. 

4. Nair’s election as president was met with some personal reservations

He couldn’t help but be himself at the age of 58. Nair thought he could continue to move freely and informally as he had in the past, free of the trappings of the President. He was afraid that these would cut him off from his old friends and coworkers.

Things came to a head in dramatic fashion during President Nair’s unofficial visit to Sarawak from March 9 to March 18, 1985. According to government accounts, Nair was observed drinking heavily and acting inappropriately with women, prompting a hasty return to Singapore, while Nair later claimed that the cause of his erratic behavior was excessive sedation that caused hallucination and disorientation. 

5. Nair was a founding member of the People’s Action Party

People’s Action Party headquarters. Photo by Seloloving. Wikimedia

He founded the People’s Action Party (PAP) in 1954 and later served on its central executive committee. However, by joining the PAP, Nair went against his union colleagues. His pro-communist unionist friends emphasized “Chinese identity” and “Chinese society,” whereas the PAP sought a “multi-racial Malaya.”

Nair agreed with the PAP’s goals because he grew up on a rubber estate with people of various races. He was well aware that race relations needed to be carefully managed in order to avoid serious conflict. As a member of the PAP, he had the opportunity to address this issue.

But, before he could do so, the Hock Lee Bus Riots of April 1955 prompted the British government to crack down on those who allegedly supported communists, and Nair was sentenced to three years in prison again in 1956. Nair was appointed Political Secretary to the Minister of Education four months after his release in 1959. 

6. He dealt with problems as they arose

Nair chastised Singapore Airlines (SIA) pilots for attempting an “own goal” by going on strike over a pay dispute, resulting in flight delays. On January 17, 1981, shortly after the SIA Pilots’ Association and SIA management had a pay dispute, the government asked Nair to settle the dispute and end the strike.

He was no longer Secretary-General of the NTUC and was a Member of Parliament for Anson at the time. But the unionist in him erupted, and he attacked the pilots. He accused them of being “disloyal” to Singapore by attempting to cause the most damage to SIA.

Nair told SIA Group’s management and trade union representatives, “Every Singaporean is a member of the national team.” Our national airline is SIA and everyone at SIA, from the Chairman to the office boy, is on the same team. Now, if you’re on a team, the last thing you should do is shoot the ball into your own goal.”
Eventually, he was able to reach an agreement with SIA and its pilots, and those close to him said this was his proudest achievement.

7. Nair was a father of four

Father with his family. Photo by wilpunt. Unsplash

Nair’s daughter, three sons, and five grandchildren survive him. Janadas Devan, his eldest son, was a senior editor at the Singapore newspaper The Straits Times and is now the Chief of Government Communications at Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information, as well as a director at the public policy think tank Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).

Geraldine Heng, a literary scholar, is Janadas Devan’s wife. Janamitra Devan, his second son, was a former Vice-President of the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank. Janaprakash Devan, his third son, died in 2009. Vijaya Kumari Devan, his only daughter, still lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

8. Nair resigned for unknown reasons

Angry man- quitting. Photo by anilakkus. Unsplash

Nair resigned on March 28, 1985, for unknown reasons. In Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong stated that Nair resigned to seek treatment for alcoholism, which Nair categorically denied. According to Nair’s counterclaim, he resigned under duress after their political views diverged and Goh threatened to depose him as president during a game of chess.

Nair also claimed that he was given drugs to make him appear disoriented and that rumors about his personal life were spread in an attempt to discredit him. Goh filed a libel suit in 1999 after reading an article about the case in the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. Some claimed that the suit was dismissed after Nair’s counterclaim. However, according to a letter to The New York Times, Goh agreed to drop the suit only after two of Nair’s sons issued a statement, which was reported in The Globe and Mail on 1 July 2004, claiming that Nair was no longer mentally competent to testify in court.

According to The Globe and Mail, “having reviewed the records, and based on the family’s knowledge of the circumstances leading to Mr. Nair’s resignation as President of Singapore in March 1985, we can declare that there is no basis for this allegation (of Mr Nair being drugged).”

9. Nair moved to the US after retiring from politics

Following his resignation as president, Nair and his wife moved to the United States in 1988, settling in Gaithersburg, Maryland. They eventually relocated to Bloomington, Indiana. Later, the couple relocated to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where they spent the rest of their lives. His wife, Avadai Dhanam Lakshimi, died on April 18, 2005, in Hamilton, while Nair, who had developed severe dementia, died on December 6, 2005, in Hamilton, Canada. 

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong established the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability in Jurong East on 1 May 2014 to honor his contributions to the labor movement as Secretary General of the National Trades Union Congress.

10. He was diagnosed with alcoholism

One man sitting at the bar counter alone. Photo by South_agency. Unsplash

His subsequent denials of the nature of his illness and characterization of his behavior caused a schism in his relationship with the political leadership.