Datuk Dr Rasammah Bhupalan, Malaysia’s distinguished educationist, prominent women leader and social activist, died on May 13, 2025, aged 98. Born on May 1, 1927 in Ipoh, Perak, she was the youngest child of educationist parents, who instilled in her the belief that the primary role of teachers was to mould the country’s future generations.
During her early teens, in 1942, Rasammah witnessed the sudden collapse of British colonial rule of Malaya following the unexpected defeat of the British Army by a formidable Japanese Imperial Army. Anti-British sentiments among diaspora Indians in the region to free India from British rule, led to the formation of the Indian National Army (INA) under nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose, who established a women’s wing in 1943 – the Rani of Jansi Regiment (RJR). At 16, Rasammah joined the RJR and rapidly imbibed vital leadership skills and self-discipline that stood her in good stead throughout her later professional life.
