David S. Vethamuthu (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

: வி. டேவிட்) (26 August 1932 – 10 July 2005) was a

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n unionist and former opposition politician. He won a seat in the

Malaysian parliament The Parliament of Malaysia (; Jawi script, Jawi: ) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives, Literal translation, lit. "People's As ...

four times, representing the constituencies of

Bangsar Bangsar is a residential suburb on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, lying about south-west of the city centre. It is part of the Lembah Pantai parliamentary constituency. Bangsar is administered by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), unlike ...

, Dato' Kramat, Damansara and

Puchong Puchong is a major town and a parliamentary constituency in the Petaling District, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Bordering Kuala Lumpur, it is part of the Greater Kuala Lumpur area. It is bordered by Petaling Jaya in the north, Subang J ...

. While in parliament, he was known to be fearless and vocal in raising issues concerning the Indian community in Malaysia. He later became the chairman of the World Tamil Association in 1984. He is famously known for making

Labour Day Labour Day is an annual day of celebration of the labour movement and its labor rights, achievements. It has its origins in the trade union, labour union movement, specifically the Eight-hour day movement, eight-hour day movement, which advoca ...

a public holiday in Malaysia.

Career

Trade unions

David was a founding member and secretary of

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

Factories Association in 1953. He was known as 'King David' among local and international trade union circles and served as MTUC secretary-general from 1976 to 1992. He was also the Transport Workers Union secretary-general from 1958 to 1995. David was best known for setting up the Workers Institute of Technology (WIT) in

Port Klang Port Klang () is the principal port of Malaysia on the Strait of Malacca. Known during colonial times as Port Swettenham (), it was renamed to Port Klang in July 1972 and has since become the largest port in the country. It is located about sou ...

in the early 1970s, which provided education opportunities for thousands of workers' children over the years. At the international level, he served as the executive board member of the International Transport Federation and the International Confederation of Free Trade Union, and represented Malaysian workers at numerous

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

(ILO) conferences in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Politics

David was elected as

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

town councillor and became the Transport Workers Union's secretary in 1958. In 1959, he was elected

Member of Parliament under the ticket of the

Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front The Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front ( Malay: ''Barisan Sosialis Rakyat Malaya'') or better known as Socialist Front (SF) or Barisan Sosialis (BS) was a left-wing coalition of Malaysian socialist parties. It was among the longest-standing oppos ...

as well as the state seat of Pantai, both in Selangor. However, in 1964, he lost his seat to

Devan Nair Chengara Veetil Devan Nair (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 resign ...

of the

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...

although he kept his state seat. In 1969, David returned to parliament by winning the Dato' Kramat seat in Penang and was re-elected to his Pantai state seat for the third time, both under the newly formed

Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia The Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (; abbrev: GERAKAN or less commonly as PGRM) is a liberal political party in Malaysia. Formed in 1968, Gerakan gained prominence in the 1969 general election when it defeated the ruling Alliance Party in Pen ...

. When Gerakan joined the

Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional (BN; ) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1974 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties to succeed the Alliance Party. It is the third largest political coalition with 30 seats in ...

in 1973, David resigned to join the Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia (Pekemas). In the 1974 general election, both his Dato' Kramat and Pantai seats were abolished in a re-delineation exercise. David contested in the Jelutong parliament seat (also in Penang) for Pekemas against Rasiah Rajasingam, a former Gerakan colleague, but lost. In 1978, as a candidate of the

Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party (DAP; ) is a social democracy, social democratic and Secularism, secular political party in Malaysia, sitting on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. As one of four component parties of ...

this time, David defeated

Malaysian Indian Congress The Malaysian Indian Congress ( abbrev: MIC; )，formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress, is a Malaysian political party. It is one of the founding members of the coalition Barisan Nasional, previously known as the Alliance, which was in pow ...

strongman, Deputy Minister S. Subramaniam for the Damansara parliament seat. He failed to retain his seat again in 1982 to Tan Koon Swan who later became

Malaysian Chinese Association The Malaysian Chinese Association (Abbreviation, abbrev: MCA; Malay language, Malay: ''Persatuan Cina Malaysia''), formerly known as the Malayan Chinese Association, is an ethnic List of political parties in Malaysia, political party in Malaysi ...

president. In 1986 and 1990, David was elected as

Member of Parliament and, in 1995, stepped down for health reasons. David was arrested under the Emergency Ordinance in 1958. He was also arrested under Internal Security Act in 1964, 1969, (after the 13 May race riots) and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

(Ops Lalang). David became chairman of the World Tamil Association in 1984. He authored a book, Freedom that Never Came, chronicling his views on the post-independence period in Malaysia.

Death

David died in July 2005. He had served the workers for nearly 40 years from 1958 until he fell sick in 1995.

Recognition

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has called on the

state government to name a road after veteran trade unionist, the late V. David, in appreciation of his lifelong struggle to fight for workers' rights. MTUC vice-president A. Balasubramaniam said there was already a precedent when Jalan 222 here was named after P. P. Narayanan, another noteworthy trade unionist. He said David deserved the honour because he served the workers for nearly 40 years from 1958 until he fell sick in 1995. Cuepacs secretary-general Ahmad Shah Mohd Zin supported the proposal, saying union leaders should also be recognised "for their struggles and sacrifices in improving the lives of helpless workers."

Election results

References

External links

MTUC proposes road to be named after union leader
The Star, 12 July 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:David, V. 1932 births 2005 deaths Malaysian trade unionists Malaysian socialists Malaysian politicians of Tamil descent Malaysian politicians of Indian descent Members of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly Labour Party of Malaya politicians Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front politicians Former Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia politicians Malaysian Social Justice Party politicians Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians Malaysian MPs 1959–1964 Malaysian MPs 1971–1974 Malaysian MPs 1978–1982 Malaysian MPs 1986–1990 Malaysian MPs 1990–1995