Devan Nair

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (February 2008)

3rd President of Singapore
Chengara Veetil Devan Nair

In office October 23, 1981 – March 27, 1985
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew (1959-1990)
Preceded by	Benjamin Henry Sheares
Succeeded by	Wee Kim Wee

Born	August 5, 1923(1923-08-05) Malacca, Malaysia
Died	December 6, 2005 (aged 82) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Singaporean
Political party	People's Action Party
Spouse	Avadai Dhanam
Children	4
Profession	Labour unionist
Religion	Hindu

Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, also known as C. V. Devan Nair (August 5, 1923–December 6, 2005), was the third President of Singapore and was elected by Parliament on October 23, 1981. He served as President until his resignation on March 28, 1985.

1 Youth
2 Career
3 Resignation
4 Family
5 References

[edit] Youth

Nair was born in Malacca, Malaysia, the son of an Indian immigrant I.V.K. Nair, from Thalassery, Kerala. He and his family migrated to Singapore when he was 10 years old. When he was young, he received his education first at Rangoon Road Primary School and then at Victoria School where he passed his Senior Cambridge examination in 1940.

[edit] Career

Initially, a member of the Communist Anti-British League, he joined Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party 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 labor union movement and founded the National Trades Union Congress. He won the Anson seat in the Singapore Parliamentary Elections, (1979|1979 elections) and accepted the largely ceremonial office of President in 1981, resulting in a by-election of the Anson seat which was then won by opposition leader J.B. Jeyaretnam (this was seen as one of the major upsets of Singapore politics).

[edit] Resignation

On March 28, 1985, Nair resigned in unclear circumstances. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew stated in Parliament that Nair resigned to get treatment for alcoholism, a charge Nair hotly denied. According to Nair's counterclaim, he resigned under pressure when their political views came into conflict and Lee threatened to seek a motion in parliament to oust him as president. Nair also alleged that he was fed drugs to make him appear disoriented, and rumours were spread about his personal life in an attempt to discredit him. In 1999, an article about the case in the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail resulted in a libel suit by Lee. [1] The suit was thrown out of court after Nair's counterclaim. [2]

In 1995, Nair, with his family, migrated to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. His wife, Avadai Dhanam, died on April 18, 2005. Nair passed away in the same year at around noon SST on December 6.

[edit] Family

Nair is survived by his daughter, three sons, and five grandchildren. His eldest son, Janadas Devan, is a senior editor with the Straits Times. His second son, Janamitra Devan, is a Senior Fellow at McKinsey & Co, and his third son, Janaprakash Devan is a private entrepreneur in Canada. His only daughter, Vijaya Kumari Devan continues to reside in Hamilton, Ontario. His granddaughters are Gitanjali Devan, a psychology graduate from the University of Maryland, Priyanjali Devan, currently attending Middlebury College, and Kiran Devan, a high school student in Minnesota. His grandsons are JanaAvinash Devan, currently attending the University of Washington, and JanaShaan Heng-Devan, attending high school in Texas.