(Kuala Lumpur, Saturday): I have
known Datuk K. Pathmanaban, who died of kidney and liver failure
at the Pantai Medical Centre here early this morning, for a quarter of
a century.
Pathma’s passing is a great loss to the country as he is a great Malaysian son.
Although we belonged to different political camps in Parliament, I had always respected Pathma’s sincerity, seriousness and commitment to his duties both as Deputy Health Minister and later Deputy Labour Minister.
It is particularly a loss to the Indian community as well as the country that Pathma never became a Cabinet Minister where his talents and qualities would have greater space to serve the community and nation.
Patham was quoted in a recent article about the recent phenomenon where
the Malaysians Indians have become the new underclass in the country, where
he said:
“Most observers would say the Indian community has been marginalized. Some 80% are below the water. A huge iceberg below the water. That's very, very sad."
In a way, the marginalisation of the Malaysians Indians had been
preceded by the marginalisation of Pathma in Malaysian politics, which
is “very, very sad”.
(9/6/2001)