Sarangapany, G.

Govindasamy Sarangapany, popularly known as G. Sarangapany and Go.Sa. (1903 - 1974), was the preeminent Tamil leader of his time. He was a newspaper editor, social reformer and a unifier of the fragmented Tamil community. He strove for over 40 years for the progress and unity of the Indian and Tamil communities in Singapore and Malaysia. He was one of the pioneers in the development of Tamil education, art, literature, and culture in both countries. He was the founder of Tamil Murasu, one of the rare dailies in the Tamil world that has been published for 90 years. அ

Sarangapany was born on 20 April in Tiruvarur, India. He was educated at Tiruvarur High School, where he studied both Tamil and English. After passing his final school examination, he came to Singapore in 1924 at the age of 21 in search of a livelihood. Records indicate that he began his career as an accountant in the shop of P Ibrahim Shah, a leading businessman in Singapore, and quickly rose to the position of manager through hard work and talent.

By 1930, Sarangapany had established a company on Selegie Road called Ashoka Trading Company, and among other businesses, he operated as an agent for printing works. At the same time, he took over the editorship of the Tamil weekly magazine Munnetram, which was founded in 1929. In 1933, he purchased Star Press, a printing press located on Selegie Road.

Even before coming to Singapore, Sarangapany, who was inspired by the Self-Respect Movement begun by E.V. Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar, in Tamil Nadu, played a key role in spreading its ideals in Singapore and Malaya. Periyar's first visit to Malaya began on 20 December 1929. As a result of that visit, Sarangapany, along with O Ramasamy Nadar, A C Suppiah, P Govindasamy Chettiar and others, founded the Tamils Reform Association (TRA) in Singapore in the early 1930s.

He expanded the role of the TRA through various initiatives in education, cultural performance, sports, volunteerism, and rationalist advocacy. On 6 July 1935, the TRA launched Tamil Murasu, a weekly magazine, followed by the English-language monthly Reform in 1936. As secretary of the association, Sarangapani took personal charge of both publications. When the association decided to cease Tamil Murasu shortly after its launch, Sarangapani assumed complete control and transformed it into a daily newspaper.

Next, Sarangapany started the Indian Daily Mail, an English newspaper, in 1939, aimed at voicing the concerns of the Indian community and uniting its diverse groups. Although it made a loss, it continued publication until 1956. He also ran the evening daily, Desa Thoothan, published from Kuala Lumpur, for a few years when Tamil Murasu was the best-selling daily in Singapore and Malaysia in the 1950s and the 1960s. However, when Tamil Murasu employees went on a one-year strike, from 3 July 1963 to 10 July 1964, demanding wage increases, Sarangapany suspended the daily. When Tamil Murasu resumed publication, it faced competition from another daily, Tamil Malar, which had been started during the hiatus. However, Tamil Malar ceased publication in 1980. Tamil Murasu continues to this day.

Sarangapany played a major role in the development of the Tamil language and its art and literature in Singapore and Malaysia. Through Tamil Murasu, he provided an opportunity for many Malaysians and Singaporeans to try their hand at creative writing – to write short stories, serials, articles and poems. He encouraged literary forums in his newspaper. To foster literary appreciation, he established a dedicated section for literary criticism. On 2 May 1952, he founded a club, Maanavar Mani Mandram, for the youth and dedicated a section to promoting writing among the younger generation. Within a year of its inception, over 7,500 members had joined the club. The writers who emerged from that club dominated the Tamil literary scene in Malaysia and Singapore in the 1970s. The club remains one of the oldest and leading Indian youth organisations in Malaysia.

To unite Tamil writers who were struggling individually in Singapore, Sarangapany started an organisation called the Writers’ Council on 5 July 1952, under the leadership of V Thirunavukkarasu. He also facilitated several competitions and offered prizes to incentivise writers. Moreover, Sarangapany used Tamil Murasu as an instrument of his social work. His focus was on the underprivileged and the marginalised. During the colonial period, he served as the spokesperson for the rights of plantation workers and daily-wage earners, acting as the interlocutor between them and the government and employers.

Another key initiative of his was the movement to legally register Hindu marriages. He undertook this effort over three decades, from the 1930s until the Women’s Charter came into effect in 1961.

When more than 35 private Tamil schools in Singapore were struggling to function after World War II, he lobbied the government, which converted 23 of them into government-aided schools. To oversee them, he formed the Tamil Education Society of Singapore in 1948 and headed it.

Sarangapany campaigned for the advancement of Tamil education because he saw it as the key to the advancement of Tamils. The Department of Indian Studies and the Departmental Library were established at the University of Malaya in Singapore through Sarangapany's efforts. Although many others contributed to this cause, Sarangapany's campaign, through TamilMurasu, the primary Tamil media channel at the time, resonated widely and deeply among the population. Following continuous pressure from many people, the Indian Studies Department was launched in 1956. Since the majority of Indians living in Malaya were Tamils, he argued that Tamil, and not Sanskrit, should be given prominence in the department. He also worked to raise funds for the department's operations. A fund called 'Tamil is our life' was created, and $27,500 was collected in two months. The library was given 7,500 books.

Again, as a result of his relentless efforts, the Umar Pulavar Tamil High School was established in 1960, the first such high school in Southeast Asia.  However, both the Indian Studies Department and the Umar Pulavar Tamil High School no longer exist in Singapore, the former having moved to Malaysia and the latter having closed because of a lack of students.

One of Sarangapany’s most significant achievements in the social sector was his unification of more than 50 small associations in the Tamil community under the umbrella of the Tamils Representative Council (TRC) on 1 August 1951. He used the TRC as a tool to improve social welfare. After the formation of the association, he created the Tamils Festival called Thamizhar Thirunaal in Tamil.

Sarangapany also inaugurated the Tamils Festival on 13 January 1952. Conceived as a celebration of Tamil unity across class, religion and nationality, the event included competitions in education, literature, the arts and sports. At its peak, the three-day festival drew crowds of over 10,000.  Leaders and ministers, including then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, attended the festival. However, the festival eventually declined because of internal discord and leadership challenges.

Another aspect of Sarangapany's critical social service to Singapore was persuading Tamils living here to obtain Singapore citizenship. He understood the importance of civic integration. When many working-class people were hesitant to obtain citizenship in this country, he used his newspaper to inform and mobilise the community and even arranged for a registration centre to be set up along Serangoon Road.

In Tamil, Sarangapany’s name is most often preceded by the title Thamizhavel, which means Extraordinary Leader of Tamils.  This title was bestowed on him by Kundrakudi Adigal, a Tamil scholar, reformer and holy guru from Tamil Nadu, when he visited Kuala Lumpur in 1955. Since then, Tamils respectfully refer to Saranagapany simply as Thamizhavel. Sarangapany's centenary was celebrated in Malaysia and Singapore in 2003. In Singapore, the G. Sarangapany Education Trust Fund was established in his name, and the community donated $1.1 million to the Singapore Indian Education Trust on 18 January 2004. He is the subject of many scholarly works and conferences. A Tamil school built in Malaysia’s Kedah state in 2015 was named after him. At Tamil University in Tamil Nadu, the G. Sarangapany Tamil Chair was established in 2007 by the M.A. Mustafa Charitable Trust. Although Tamil Murasu is currently published by SPH Media Trust, thousands of people remember him every day by seeing his name on its masthead as 'Founder: Thamizhavel G. Sarangapany.’ அ

Just as he was beginning to emerge as a leader of the Tamils, in 1947, Sarangapany married Lim Boon Neo, a Chinese Peranakan woman who had supported him from his early days in Singapore – a union that drew some controversy but had little effect on his public stature. Thamizhavel G. Sarangapany died on 16 March 1974 at Singapore General Hospital at the age of 71.



For more Information
“A voice to unite a people.” The Straits Times, 12 May 1989, 6. (From Newspaper SG)
“By the By Selegie Road.” Indian Daily Mail, 5 December 1952, 2. (From Newspaper SG)
“Obtain Citizenship Of Malaya Bestow Unflinching Loyalty.” Indian Daily Mail, 10 March 1952, 1. (From Newspaper SG)
“G Sarangapany.” Indian Hall of Fame Singapore. Accessed 1 August 2025. https://indianhalloffame.sg/?page_id=20428

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The information in this article is valid as of August 2025 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. If you have any feedback on this article, please submit here.