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Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email By WANI MUTHIAH
THE Sri Murugan Centre’s recent 25th anniversary celebration was filled with nostalgia as well as a sense of great achievement.
Attended by scores of parents, students, volunteers and well-wishers, the event which was held at Universiti Malaya (UM), highlighted SMC’s strength as well as its growth over the years.
One of the highlights of the event was the acknowledgement accorded to a group of former UM undergraduates who had helped founder Datuk Dr M. Thambirajah initiate the SMC in 1982.
The group of 42, led by Kedah deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm (II) A. Thaiveegan who was then the university’s Tamil Language Society chairman, had set out to draft the initial modules and start tuition classes for Form Six students.
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Recognition: Prakash Rao being awarded the SMC Outstanding Student Award by his mentor Thambirajah at the event.
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Not all of the 42 were able to make it for the event but Thambirajah honoured the 33 who did, which included Thaiveegan and his wife Komodhi, with garlands and mementoes.
One of the centre’s co-directors Prakash Rao also received the SMC’s outstanding student award, for his achievements since he first started attending tutorial classes as a Form Six student in Ipoh.
Prakash, 41, not only excelled academically but also returned to the SMC and has been a pivotal figure at the centre for the last 15 years.
Meanwhile, SMC co-director K. Suraindran said the large turnout at the event indicated SMC’s successful journey from the time of its inception.
He added that the event also highlighted SMC’s plans for the future.
“We indicated at the event that the SMC is looking at a different direction now in addition to being a centre for academic excellence,” Suraindran said.
According to him, besides continuing to help Indian students excel academically, the SMC would also be concentrating in creating Indian Malaysians with values par excellence.
“When the SMC first started, Indian families were not conscious about the importance of education but now they are.
“So, we are looking at other areas of development as what we had initially set out to do has been achieved,” he added.
Among the guests at the event were deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk S. Veerasingam, National Land Finance Cooperative Society executive chairman Tan Sri K.S. Somasundaram, Housing and Local Government Ministry parliamentary secretary Dr S. Subramaniam, Education Ministry parliamentary secretary Komala Krishna Moorthy and Selangor executive councillor Kamala Ganapathy.
