Devan Nair | |
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![]() Official portrait, 1981 | |
3rd President of Singapore | |
In office 23 October 1981 – 28 March 1985 | |
Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew |
Preceded by | Benjamin Sheares |
Succeeded by | Wee Kim Wee |
Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress | |
In office 1970–1979 | |
Preceded by | Seah Mui Kok |
Succeeded by | Lim Chee Onn |
In office 1961–1965 | |
Succeeded by | Steve Nayagan |
Secretary-General of the Democratic Action Party | |
In office 11 October 1965 – 30 July 1967 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Goh Hock Guan |
Secretary-General of the People's Action Party of Malaysia | |
In office 14 August 1965 – 9 September 1965 | |
Preceded by | Lee Kuan Yew |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Anson | |
In office 10 February 1979 – 13 October 1981 | |
Preceded by | P. Govindaswamy |
Succeeded by | J. B. Jeyaretnam |
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Bangsar | |
In office 18 May 1964 – 20 March 1969 | |
Preceded by | V. David |
Succeeded by | Goh Hock Guan |
Personal details | |
Born | Chengara Veetil Devan Nair 5 August 1923 Jasin, Malacca, Straits Settlements (now Malacca, Malaysia)[1] |
Died | 6 December 2005 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | (aged 82)
Cause of death | Dementia |
Resting place | White Chapel Memorial Park, Hamilton, Ontario[2] |
Political party | Independent |
Other political affiliations | People's Action Party (1954–1965) (1979–1981) Democratic Action Party (1965–1967) Malayan Communist Party (until 1950) |
Spouse | Avadai Dhanam Lakshimi |
Children | 4 |
Alma mater | Victoria School |
Occupation |
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Chengara Veetil Devan Nair BBM (5 August 1923 – 6 December 2005), also known as C. V. Devan Nair, better known as Devan Nair, was a Singaporean politician and union leader who served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resignation in 1985.[3]
Politically active in both Malaysia and Singapore, Nair was a communist as a young adult, having been affiliated with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). He harboured anti-colonial sentiments and campaigned for the self-determination of Singapore, which was then a British colony, causing him to be detained by the British in 1951. In 1954, he joined the People's Action Party (PAP). He was detained again by the British in 1956, and remained so until the PAP won the 1959 general election and helped secure his release.
During his parliamentary career, Nair was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Malaysian constituency of Bangsar between 1964 and 1969 and for the Singapore constituency of Anson between 1979 and 1981. Prior to his presidency, Nair was Secretary-General of the People's Action Party of Malaya prior to Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia, and continued to serve after the expulsion under its new name Democratic Action Party (DAP) which he founded until 1967.
Nair would soon return to Singapore and echoed his leftist beliefs by becoming involved in the labour movement, including serving as Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) between 1970 and 1979, before taking up the presidency in 1981. He was succeeded by Wee Kim Wee on 2 September 1985. After his presidency in 1985, Nair retired from politics and briefly moved to the United States before moving again to live out his final years in Hamilton, Canada, when he died there at the age of 82 of dementia in 2005.