From: P Ramakrishnan
<rama1938@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, Jan 12, 2013 at 11:11 PM
Subject: R.I.P. Ramiah Kirkby
1958/1959
To:
With very warm regards,
RAMA
R.I.P. Ramiah
Kirkby 1958/1959
My dear Kirkbyites,
It saddens me to inform you
that M Ramiah from the Kirkby
batch of 1958-1959 passed away today (12-1-2013) at 12.30 pm. This sad news was
conveyed to me by his son Ramesh at 1.39 pm.
Ramiah has been sick for some time. In the last few months
he was really sick. He was suffering from septicaemia and was admitted to UH.
Subsequently he was discharged but soon had to be admitted to Tung Shin
Hospital. After several weeks of struggle and suffering, his brave heart
finally gave in.
He leaves behind his wife, two
sons, a daughter and grandchildren to mourn his loss.
His obituary will be in the
Sunday Star tomorrow.
Ramiah was from Block 11. He was a P.E. optionist.
When I arrived at Kirkby that cold and unfriendly night, there was no one to
help us with the luggage. The Seniors were on strike!
Ramiah, for whatever reason, had mentioned that his brother
was coming to Kirkby and I happened to be that
brother! He was very kind to lend me his black sweater to keep myself warm. For
that, I remain grateful to him. It meant a lot when you are being ragged and
shouted at!
On qualifying, he was posted
to Kuantan, Pahang in 1960. Later in 1962, he was
transferred to Clifford Secondary School, Kuala Lipis.
At that time Subramaniam from his batch, Donald Jeyaratnem and I – his Juniors -
were teaching in the same school. At the end of the year I was selected to
follow a course at STTI. After that there was no crossing of our paths.
When we went on strike in
1967, Ramiah and Jeyaratnam
were in the news. Their school was out in full force and they were quoted by
the press. The NUT officials were very upset that they were getting the
publicity and took action against them for speaking to the press without their
sanction. These petty officials wanted to be the only star in the sky and they
could not tolerate other well-meaning members being quoted by the press.
Years later, the staff of his
school in Ipoh - Sungai Pari School –came to Penang
to spend some time at the beach in Penang. That was the time I met up with Ramiah after a long absence. Mimi Foo
was also there. His head was Michael De Silva was also a friend of mine.
Then in 1994, the well-known
journalist from the Far Eastern Economic Review was terminally ill at the UH. I
came from Penang to visit him. As I was going back after the visit, I saw Ramiah sitting on the bed. I stopped and we talked for a
while. He was having a heart condition then.
On retirement, he taught at
the KL International School.
A few years ago he had to be
on dialysis. The first time I heard of this, together with Bala
and Nada I visited him at Kelana Jaya. It was much
later that his health started to deteriorate.
What is remarkable about Ramiah is the fact that on a single salary he managed to
give his children a good education. One son, Ravi, is a Plantaion
Advisor in Indonesia, the second son, Ramesh, runs
his own corporate training consultancy and his daughter, Revathi,
lectures at Curtin University in Perth.
The funeral will take place
tomorrow at 1.00 pm from their home at 7 Jalan Setia Damai U13/15F, Setia Alam, 40170 Shah Alam.
Revathi can be contacted at 016-5240 707
Ramesh at: 012-5190 451
It is always a terrible pain
when a Kirkbyite passes on. Unfortunately, we are at
a stage when we have to endure this pain more often than not.
In sorrow,
Rama