day in the week I could sleep in and the meeting was at 9.00 o’clock in the morning.
My mother overhead our conversation and said: “Can’t you sacrifice just one Sunday for your temple? For God? Why don’t you go to the AGM and get formally appointed?”
I turned to Sam. “Ok, then, I’ll go to the meeting.”
On that particular Sunday, there was a huge crowd at the temple, both young and old. Many were old friends and some were my father’s friends. My father was also there.
Sam said to me: “Hey, the person who’s supposed to stand for president against Mr Saravanan is unable to make it as something more urgent required his attention. Could you please contest the election? We don’t want Mr Saravanan to be president of the temple committee again, and we just need you to contest and hold the position for a short period until we find someone to take over from you.”
Many of our friends were there, and they were hoping that I would show my support and accept their proposal. After much coaxing from them, I agreed to contest the election. There were only two candidates: myself and the incumbent. The candidates were told to leave the hall and by a show of hands, I was elected president. The other candidate got only one vote—my father’s.
My father was angry at the way his good friend Mr Saravanan had been humiliated. They had worked together for about 30 years in the Base and he was of the opinion that no one should be humiliated in that way. Even my father’s friends had voted for me because I was his son. I had the support of both the older and younger generations. I accepted my victory with mixed feelings as I could understand my father’s point of view.
My father proposed the defeated candidate as vice-president. Not wanting to hurt my father’s feelings, no one objected and S Saravanan was elected unopposed. I realised, to my horror, that I could not resign. If I did, the former president would, under the temple’s constitution, succeed me. I had no choice but to continue. When I got back home, my mother had a broad smile on her face. She had heard about my win and, to her, being president of a temple was a great honour.
After growing up among mostly Chinese boys, I found that the temple exposed me to the Indian community. I received great support. Youngsters came in numbers to help us change the face of the temple. We expanded its premises and it was common to see us digging the soil even after midnight. New friends like Dasa, Soman, Bhasi, Velayuthan, Puru, Vincent and many others were pillars of support and strength. Temple work brought me tremendous joy. I had to pull people from different factions of the community into the temple and unite them. I also became religious in the process.
Unfortunately, there was also a lot of politics to deal with at the temple. You can please people most of the time but sometimes what you do is never enough. There was at least one group of devotees who were not happy with what was happening. They became even unhappier when they saw that the temple was prospering under my leadership. However, they couldn’t do anything about it and I was re-elected in 1973. In 1975, I decided that Sam, who had by then been vice-president for two years, should be the president. The election was contested and he won.
Although Sam had won, many people from the opposition camp had also been voted into the temple committee. I was reappointed legal advisor. There were numerous problems within the committee and some issues could not be resolved because of personality clashes. This created a lot of bitterness amongst the members. Even though I wasn’t the president, many petitions and complaints were lodged against me. I felt these were mostly unjustified. Complaints were forwarded to then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and to several government departments, stating that I was a gangster and that I was controlling the temple with the help of the Black Eagle Gang. Many allegations were
My mother overhead our conversation and said: “Can’t you sacrifice just one Sunday for your temple? For God? Why don’t you go to the AGM and get formally appointed?”
I turned to Sam. “Ok, then, I’ll go to the meeting.”
On that particular Sunday, there was a huge crowd at the temple, both young and old. Many were old friends and some were my father’s friends. My father was also there.
Sam said to me: “Hey, the person who’s supposed to stand for president against Mr Saravanan is unable to make it as something more urgent required his attention. Could you please contest the election? We don’t want Mr Saravanan to be president of the temple committee again, and we just need you to contest and hold the position for a short period until we find someone to take over from you.”
Many of our friends were there, and they were hoping that I would show my support and accept their proposal. After much coaxing from them, I agreed to contest the election. There were only two candidates: myself and the incumbent. The candidates were told to leave the hall and by a show of hands, I was elected president. The other candidate got only one vote—my father’s.
My father was angry at the way his good friend Mr Saravanan had been humiliated. They had worked together for about 30 years in the Base and he was of the opinion that no one should be humiliated in that way. Even my father’s friends had voted for me because I was his son. I had the support of both the older and younger generations. I accepted my victory with mixed feelings as I could understand my father’s point of view.
My father proposed the defeated candidate as vice-president. Not wanting to hurt my father’s feelings, no one objected and S Saravanan was elected unopposed. I realised, to my horror, that I could not resign. If I did, the former president would, under the temple’s constitution, succeed me. I had no choice but to continue. When I got back home, my mother had a broad smile on her face. She had heard about my win and, to her, being president of a temple was a great honour.
After growing up among mostly Chinese boys, I found that the temple exposed me to the Indian community. I received great support. Youngsters came in numbers to help us change the face of the temple. We expanded its premises and it was common to see us digging the soil even after midnight. New friends like Dasa, Soman, Bhasi, Velayuthan, Puru, Vincent and many others were pillars of support and strength. Temple work brought me tremendous joy. I had to pull people from different factions of the community into the temple and unite them. I also became religious in the process.
Unfortunately, there was also a lot of politics to deal with at the temple. You can please people most of the time but sometimes what you do is never enough. There was at least one group of devotees who were not happy with what was happening. They became even unhappier when they saw that the temple was prospering under my leadership. However, they couldn’t do anything about it and I was re-elected in 1973. In 1975, I decided that Sam, who had by then been vice-president for two years, should be the president. The election was contested and he won.
Although Sam had won, many people from the opposition camp had also been voted into the temple committee. I was reappointed legal advisor. There were numerous problems within the committee and some issues could not be resolved because of personality clashes. This created a lot of bitterness amongst the members. Even though I wasn’t the president, many petitions and complaints were lodged against me. I felt these were mostly unjustified. Complaints were forwarded to then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and to several government departments, stating that I was a gangster and that I was controlling the temple with the help of the Black Eagle Gang. Many allegations were
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