Tun Sambanthan was a visionary and icon.
RECENT reminiscences of the late Tun V.T. Sambanthan tended to emphasise his humility, integrity and vision in service to the nation; in particular his self-sacrifice in the cause of uplifting the Indian community, especially those mired with the low-income syndrome.
He was a Tamil aristocrat, born and bred in rural Sungai Siput, who rose to become a minister when the nation attained independence on Aug 31, 1957.
He was consecutively minister of Labour, Health, Works, Posts and Telecommunications and, finally, National Unity, a vital portfolio after the trauma of May 13.
Most if not all the tributes posted on Sambanthan focused on his strategy in purchasing 22 British-owned rubber and coconut plantations to prevent the workers in these estates from being thrown out of work along with their families following fragmentation of the estates by capitalist cartels.