Dr Rajakumar – truly a patriot and people’s hero

VETERAN socialist leader and medical practitioner Dr M.K. Rajakumar, 76, passed away yesterday at 3am at the Coronary Care Unit of Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

He succumbed to heart and lung complications following a recent bout of pneumonia.

He is survived by his wife Ong Kik Hong and three children – venture capitalist Datin Sunita Mei-Lin, Kiren Su-Lin who is an executive in a search firm in London, and Arjuna, a vice-president at HSBC in Hong Kong.

Dr Rajakumar also leaves behind grand-daughter Priya.

A 1980 file photo of Dr M.K. Rajakumar.

Dr Rajakumar is best known as a leftist intellectual who rose to form part of the leadership of the Labour Party and Barisan Sosialis during the 1960s.

Along with other leaders like the late Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon, V. David, Ishak Muhammad and Karam Singh, he made the Labour Party a force to be reckoned with.

He was detained under the Internal Security Act from 1966 to 1969.

Hai-O managing director Tan Khai Hee was a comrade during those days and recalls their detention at Batu Gajah.

“In those days, the ISA was used freely on Barisan Sosialis leaders. We used to joke that we had a quorum to hold a central committee meeting at Batu Gajah!

“He was my master. He was a very intelligent man, very well-read and a very capable organiser and orator.

“He could have been a great statesman for Malaysia,” he said.

Historian Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Khay Kim first met Dr Rajakumar at the Universiti of Malaya’s Singapore campus in the 1950s, where the latter was active in the Socialist Club there.

“Dr Rajakumar was very dedicated to his cause. As a medical doctor he could have spent his time making money, but he was only interested in helping people.

“Politically, his influence waned after the decline of the Barisan Socialis in the late 60s but he always held on to his ideals,” he said.

Former Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia Kassim Ahmad also met Dr Rajakumar at the Socialist Club.

“He was my senior at Universiti Malaya and took the trouble to make us feel comfortable.

“At that time, he was on the editorial board of Fajar, the Socialist Club’s newspaper. We were very close for many years but I didn’t see him for a long time until the launch of Dr Syed Husin Ali’s book The Malays earlier this year.

“It was such a busy function that I didn’t get to talk to him, which I now regretted,” he said.

Former Bar Council president Haji Sulaiman Abdullah is another who holds Dr Rajakumar in high regard.

“I remember when Dr Rajakumar was one of the accused in a sedition trial involving Fajar, when he was defended by Lee Kuan Yew. He then moved on to be chairman of the Selangor Labour Party and was always very dedicated.

“He was a very caring person and was adored by those who knew him. I was told that he used to have a very run-down clinic in flats in Loke Yew.

“When asked to move, he simply answered that the people were too poor and couldn’t afford a doctor and if he moved out they would have no one.

“The country has lost a great patriot and a man of integrity who served other people without concern for material gains,” he said.

After his detention, Dr Rajakumar focused more on his medical practice but was still concerned with improving the overall standard of healthcare.

He served as Malaysian Medical Association president from 1979 to 1980, Malaysian Scientific Association president from 1981 to 1983 and World Organisation of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of Family Physicians president from 1986 to 1989.

Tan points out: “He was at his happiest when serving the poor. We in the Barisan Sosialis looked upon him as a true people’s hero because he was not interested in rewards.

“I know that he was offered titles by the Barisan government and also that Lee Kuan Yew tried to get him to move to Singapore but he turned both down because his only interest was serving the poor.”

The late Dr Rajakumar is related through marriage to many other distinguished Malaysians.

His sister Puan Sri Sukumari Sekhar was married to the rubber industry pioneer, the late Tan Sri Dr B. C. Sekhar, while his daughter Datin Sunita is married to the son of former senator Tan Sri Dr C. Sinnadurai.

Over the last two years, he was cared for by his son-in-law Datuk Dr Jayaindran Sinnadurai, head of general medicine at Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Prayers will be held at 1pm today at 22, Jalan Kent 1, off Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur.

The cortege will depart at 3.30pm for the Cheras Crematorium.

For further details, please contact Ivy or Sherry at 012-208 2677 or 012-212 9278.