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ALUMNI VOICES SERIESLUMNI VOICES SERIESLUMNI VOICES SERIES
AA Issue no. 2 | 2022
When a Sparrow Flies like an Eagle

I still remember years By Dato’ S. Kumaran
ago, an old man in the Department of Geography
estates cautioning me 1976-1979
about my dream to President of Alumni University Malaya Indian
succeed. He said to me Studies (AUMIS)
“don’t ever dream that delightful learning atmosphere and experiences I gained
the simple house through every event. The Tamil studies lectures (with a
sparrow can ever fly like focus on Tamil linguistics and literature) at that time often
an eagle.” When I hosted scholars from India which I was very privileged to
graduated from the have attended. Also, majoring in Geography played a big
Faculty of Arts and Social role in developing my analytical skills.
Sciences at Universiti
Malaya, I realised that Ultimately, FASS gave me several lifelong lessons about
while the house sparrow success; (i) always take destiny into your own hands, and
Graduation day 1979 may not be able fly iike go to where you want to go, and (ii) while academic
an eagle, there is nothing to prevent it from prevailing and qualifications are important, it is really manners that makes
manifesting far beyond the ability of an eagle. The size and the man- character building and interpersonal
how high one can fly does not matter, what matters if one’s communication are skills that everyone must develop to
ability and desire to thrive. get ahead in life. When I graduated in 1979, these lessons
guided me through other phases in my life.
I was born in the year 1955 in Sungai Tok Pawang, Bedong
Kedah, an estate by the foothills of Gunung Jerai. My father As a UM graduate, I was fortunate enough to join the
was a direct migrant from South Indian, who worked as a coveted Administrative and Diplomatic Service (known
factory worker and my mother, a rubber tapper. My primary locally as PTD officers) of the public sector. Throughout
education was in the estate Tamil School, after which I my 35 years of service, I had served in three ministries and
went to secondary schools in Sungai Petani. Growing up, I retired as the Undersecretary of the Corporate Strategy
considered myself an average student, who performed and Communication Division of the Ministry of Finance in
decently at school, until I found my way to the Faculty of 2015. A noteworthy mention was project I ran while
Arts and Social Sciences at Universiti Malaya in 1976. serving in this ministry in 2012, was to put an end the
Government’s policy of bearing 1.8% of the merchant
To be honest, I would not have qualified for a place at charges for credit card payments of corporate taxes and
FASS if not for the A is scored for the Tamil language custom duties, since these payments are under legal
subject for my HSC Examination; I considered it luck being obligation to be paid up.
on my side. Upon entry, I chose to major in Geography,
considering the diverse modules that was offered by the This resulted in a yearly expenditure savings of over
Department, which gave a wide range of opportunities for RM100 million for the Government up to today. Other
my career development. major achievements were the successful completion of
the Minister of Finance’s Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
During my undergraduate years, I served as the secretary for the Prime Minister’s Report Card, the Treasury’s
of the Tamil Language Society (TLS) and became the First Transformation programme, a comprehensive
President of the Hindu Society of UM. Such activities communication programme for the implementation of
outside the lecture halls played a crucial role in developing GST, and all matters pertaining to internal and external
my character, personality, leadership qualities as well as audits of all Ministries. After my retirement at 60, I was
the confidence needed to excel in my professional life. appointed as a member of the Malaysian Education
My greatest memory at Universiti Malaya was honestly the Service Commission until from 2016 to 2019.

PULSE invites alumni members of FASS to share with us their share of history and the amazing things they have
done since graduating. Please send your articles directly to vilasomiah@um.edu.my (Dr. Vilashini Somiah, Co-
Editor- in- Chief), vandana@um.edu.my (Dr. Vandana Saxena, Co-Editor-in-Chief) or nadhwah@um.edu.my (Ms.
Nadhwah Tul Iman Mizam, Asst. Ed-in-Chief).
We are also open to receiving donations and any feedback, suggestions and questions as well.

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