G Sarangapany, titled Thamizhavel, arrived in Singapore in 1924. A believer of Periyar’s principles, he played a key role in extending the Self-Respect Movement to Singapore and Malaya and became the agent for distribution of the movement’s magazine Kudi Arasu in British Malaya. He later helped arrange Periyar’s visits to Singapore and Malaya. He was an active writer and publisher in his own right. In 1929 he set up the Tamil magazine Munnetram, and Tamil Murasu in 1935. Through his writings he promoted the principles of the Tamil reform movement. He encouraged Tamils to make Singapore their home, helped them gain citizenship and championed for the cause of the Tamil language to be recognised as one of the national languages in Singapore. This is a collection of archival photographs, documents and personal artefacts from the collection of G.Sarangapany’s immediate family, donated to the Indian Heritage Centre by his daughter Ms Rajam Sarangapany.
