Uma Sambanthan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Toh Puan Umasundari Sambanthan is the wife of the late Tun Dr V.T. Sambanthan, former Malayan Labour Minister.

She was born in Bruas, Perak, to O.M. Subramaniam, a senior officer with the Public Works Department and his wife Jayalakshmi Swaminathan Sastrigal. Uma was educated at the Anglo-Chinese School in Sungai Siput, Perak, where she won the Best Indian Student of the Year scholarship in 1942.

She was only 27 years old during the proclaimation of independence on August 31, 1957. She still remembers what she wore on that momentous occasion — an off-white silk sari with a red border, a personal favourite as it had been an engagement gift from Sambanthan.

"It was so symbolic... a sign that we were free of the colonial regime, free to think for ourselves, free to lead our own country," she said.

It was truly a moment of great intensity. Uma and Sambanthan, who stood behind the country’s first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, did not speak much as they were overcome with emotion as the Union Jack was lowered and the Federation of Malaya flag raised.

The feeling of being present at the historical event on the eve of the country’s Independence Day was indescribable, said Uma.

"Many years have passed, but that feeling still lingers and I think it will live in me forever," she said.