Walk With Klang Teluk Pulai Siva

 The Legacy of Jaffna Tamil Pioneers in Klang …..Subramanaya Swami Temple in Telok Pulai Road , Malaysia. By Sivananthiram  Alagandram , Geneva , 16-1-23. In the current socio-economic political framework, it is quite easy to forget the legacy of Jaffna Tamil pioneers in the country in the preservation of Hindu religion and Tamil culture.  Just like the Vivekananda Ashram and the Kandasamy Temple in Scott road remind us of the legacy of Jaffna Tamils in Kuala Lumpur, likewise in Klang, the Subramanya Swami Temple in  Telok Pulai Road bears testimony to the legacy of Jaffna Tamils in making their temple a leading Saivite institution in the country by 1950. The early Jaffna  Tamil migration into Klang and Port Klang began to gain momentum towards the last two decades of the 19th Century. Buoyed by world demand for tin and rubber,  British Malaya began to be described as the powerhouse of the British Empire in South East Asia and influenced trade in rubber and...

Sivananthiram Alagandram ,Geneva, 14-1-23.  They arrived as a minority towards the end of the 19th Century in Klang, Malaysia from Jaffna with an agrarian background and by 1950,  the community had transformed itself into an affluent middle-class society and as a community to be reckoned with.  The Royal Town of Klang was the former capital of Selangor prior to the emergence of Kuala Lumpur as the state and national capital.  The growth of Klang as an administrative centre and the rise of  Port Swettenham (Port Klang )as a major port in the country at the dawn of the 20th century provided employment for migrants from South and East Asia. This resulted in Klang and Port Klang having one of the largest concentrations of Jaffna Tamils settlements in the country. The Jaffna Tamils came as birds of passage without any intention at all to live in this country. They wanted to return to their homeland with their savings and pensions. This was utmost in their minds. Many...

Sivananthiram Alagandram.   Geneva, 13-1-23. This is the story of Jaffna Tamils who came to Port Swettenham at the turn of the 20th century and virtually ran the port and railways in the port town. They arrived in Port Swettenham at the invitation of the British to develop the port and manage the Railways. The port which opened in 1901, exported rubber and tin to North America and Europe. Equipped with  English, technical and administrative skills, and with no capital which they brought with them,  they helped to make Port Swettenham the fastest growing port in the country and in the process entrenched themselves as middle-class citizens within a short span of time history has known. They were the backbone and unchallenged leaders of the British administration in the port town.  Above all, they observed cultural norms from Jaffna and they never lost their distinct communal identity. Today,  Port Swettenham which has been renamed Port Klang has become a worl...