| C.V. Devan Nair | |
|---|---|
| 3rd President of Singapore | |
| 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 |
| Member of Parliament for Anson |
|
| In office 1979–1981 |
|
| Preceded by | P. Govindaswamy |
| Succeeded by | J.B. Jeyaretnam |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 5, 1923 Malacca, Straits Settlements |
| Died | December 6, 2005 (aged 82) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Singaporean |
| Political party | People's Action Party |
| Spouse(s) | Avadai Dhanam |
| Children | 4 |
| Profession | Labour unionist |
| Religion | Hinduism |
Devan Nair a/l Chengara Veetil, also known as C. V. Devan Nair (Malayalam: ദേവന് നായര്) (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.
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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.
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 entered Parliament in 1979 by winning the Anson seat in a by-election and retained the seat in the 1980 general election, but resigned the seat in 1981 to accept the largely ceremonial office of President. This resulted in a by-election of the Anson seat which was then won by opposition leader J.B. Jeyaretnam, the first time in Singapore since 1972 when an opposition party candidate won a Parliament seat.
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] Some claimed that the suit was thrown out of court after Nair's counterclaim.[2] However, in a letter to the New York Times, it is said that Lee agreed to discontinue the suit only when two of Nair's sons issued a statement, reported in the Globe and Mail on July 1, 2004, maintaining that Nair was no longer mentally competent to give evidence in court.[3] The Globe and Mail statement concluded that "having reviewed the records, and on the basis of 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)."[4]
In 1995, Nair, with his family, migrated to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. His wife, Avadai Dhanam, died on April 18, 2005. Nair died in the same year at around 2 pm, SST on December 6.
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 Vice President of the World Bank Group, and his third son, Janaprakash Devan is a private entrepreneur in Canada. His only daughter, Vijaya Kumari Devan continues to reside in Hamilton, Ontario.
Once during his political action during the 1950s, Devan Nair was detained in a Singapore prison by the British government. There, he read the writings of Sri Aurobindo, particularly the Life Divine and became his life-long admirer and disciple. He visited Pondicherry and nearby Auroville a number of times and wrote and spoke on Sri Aurobindo's vision in USA, Canada and other countries.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Benjamin Henry Sheares |
President of Singapore 1981–1985 |
Succeeded by Wee Kim Wee |
| Parliament of Singapore | ||
| Preceded by P. Govindaswamy |
Member of Parliament for Anson 1979–1981 |
Succeeded by J.B. Jeyaretnam |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Seah Mui Kok |
Secretary-General, National Trades Union Congress 1970 - 1979 |
Succeeded by Lim Chee Onn |
| Preceded by new position |
Secretary-General, National Trades Union Congress 1961 - 1965 |
Succeeded by ST Nagayan |
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