My name is Gana

In my days there were no public swimming pools. We learnt swimming in drains, rivers and mining pools. Of these the mining pools were the most dangerous. They are shallow for about 5 meters and suddenly dip to 20 meters deep. It’s sort of V shaped. Once you cross over to the other end of the V it becomes shallow again. To the novice and non swimmers this can be very dangerous as you cannot fathom its depth.  My uncle (my cousin Ananda’s father) was a good swimmer. On one swimming outing at the mining pool, I was trying to reach my uncle who was about a meter away when suddenly I could not find the surface. I went under water swallowing water all along. My uncle saw me struggling, came over, pulled me by the hair and put me back in the shallow waters. That was the last time I swam in a mining pool. We were contented to swim in drains and rivers following the incident. image (c) Lat content (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy, mynameisgana@blogspot.com

The tragic episode of the South Indian Labour Fund Board (SILF) is one which every South Indian in Malaysia must know. It should prick the conscience of the South Indians and a concerted effort is taken to redeem what has been lost to the Community. SILF was created as a Board to look after the interests of South Indian Labour imported from India to work in the plantations in the then Malaya.  Every plantation Company was required to pay a levy of .50 cents for every South Indian Laborer imported into then Malayan plantation. The levy may feel small but the wages of South Indian Labor in the 1900’s was a mere .50cents per day. The Fund at last count had 4 million Ringgit in its kitty. It also provided financial aid to University students. Dato Padma & Dato Subra were also recipients of these assistance. It also had an Old Folks Home on 2 acres of land. Arumugam Pillay the father or uncle of the Lotus Group of eateries owners donated 10 acres of land in Nibong Tebal for Palm Oi...

When I joined the Labor Department I had a tyrant of a boss who was a bully. Part of my duties was to decide on claims made by employees against their employers. My boss would give directions on how we should decide on cases that we were handling at the Labor Courts.  My first case was actually decided by him. This was a claim for indemnity in lieu of notice filed by an employee against his employer. On the date of hearing I was called up to my boss’s room and introduced to a man who I later learned was the defendant in my Labor case scheduled for hearing that day. The boss told me he (the defendant ) was a good “Christian “ and he could not have dismissed the complainant and I should decide in his favor. So at the hearing in the Labor Court I heard both parties and dismissed the claim by the employee much to the disappointment of the employee who had filed a claim for indemnity in lieu of notice not given by the employer. That was the first and last time I listened to a senior per...

I was serving in Alor Setar when I came to know that the situation at home in Ipoh was not improving.  My father was in Hospital at a town known as Batu Gajah most of the time.This hospital took in patients who were suffering from tuberculosis to provide them with close attention and to keep them away from others as TB  was regarded as a contagious disease and could spread easily. One day I received the bad news. My father had passed on and the funeral was to be on the same  day. Since I was in Alor Setar it was not possible for me to attend the funeral. I did not have funds to return home. By the time I reached home the funeral would be over; I opted to stay behind and let my mother handle it. My boss heard of the sad news. He was a kind soul and told me in view of the circumstances at home he will arrange to transfer me back to my hometown without a replacement. Soon  I heard the news of my transfer back to my hometown. That would help me save on my food and lodgin...