KUALA LUMPUR: National psychiatric figure Tan Sri Dr M. Mahadevan has died of heart and lung complications. He was 96.
According to his carer, Thenagaran, Dr Mahadevan succumbed to his illness, surrounded by family members at his residence in Ukay Heights, Ampang, at about 7.45pm on Monday (June 15).
Thenagaran said Dr Mahadevan had previously been receiving treatment at a private medical centre in Ampang for the past month following heart failure and lung infection.
"He had been unwell for a long time and had previously been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). After his health condition deteriorated, he asked to be taken home,” he said when contacted on Tuesday (June 16).
Thenagaran said members of the public who wished to pay their last respects may do so at the family residence at No. 32, Lorong Lee Hin Neo 1, Ukay Heights, from 10am to 1pm and 3pm to 6pm on Wednesday (June 17).
The funeral service will take place on Thursday (June 18), starting at 9.30am at the same location, before the body is taken to the Sentul Hindu Crematorium at noon.
Dr Mahadevan, regarded as the ‘father of modern psychiatry’ in Malaysia, leaves behind a great legacy in the development of the country's mental health system throughout over six decades of involvement in the field.
He was also the founder and president of the Malaysian Psychiatric Association (MPA) and served as the government’s chief psychiatrist in the 1980s.
Born on Sept 9, 1929, he received his early education at St John’s Institution, Kuala Lumpur, before completing his medical studies in Bangalore, India, in 1961. He subsequently served at University College Dublin, Ireland.
His contributions to psychiatry, especially in the field of hypnosis, received international recognition when Harvard University named a travel scholarship programme in his honour.
He was also the first Malaysian to be appointed as the president of the Asian Branch of the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine and returned to Malaysia in 1967 at the request of the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, to develop the country’s mental healthcare system.
He then became the first director of the Central Mental Hospital, which was later renamed Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta. – Bernama
