Appa's family in 1977. Photo: R. Simon Solomon
My father, or Appa as we lovingly called him, would have been 95 today, on Sept 10, 2024. His absence has left a profound void in our lives, one that can never be filled.
Born in Sentul on Sept 10, 1929, my father, the late R. Solomon Samuel, lived through the Japanese Occupation in Malaya. During those difficult years, he worked in a sawmill in Batu Arang, bringing home a sack of rice on his shoulders each week. This act of love and sacrifice ensured that his family – his father, the Rev L.A. Samuel, his mother K. Elizabeth, and their 16 children – could eat rice instead of tapioca, which caused beriberi, a severe malnutrition disease.
My father completed his secondary education at Methodist Boys School (MBS), Kuala Lumpur, where one of his classmates was the former Dewan Negara Speaker, Tan Sri G. Vadiveloo. After serving two years as a Malay Regiment clerk at the Port Dickson army camp, he decided to pursue teaching.
He was trained as a Teacher of Vernacular Schools (TEVS) at St Paul’s Institution (SPI) in 1953. Over his career, he taught English, History, Geography, Civics, Physical & Health Education at schools like SJKT Seremban Estate, SJKT Tanah Merah Estate, SJKT Nilai, SPI, SJKC Chung Hua Mantin, and finally retired from SK Gabungan Pusat Mantin (SKGPM) on Sept 9, 1984, at 55 years old.
Even after retirement, my father continued to help his colleagues, travelling by bus to Mantin to get their cars repaired. He also remained an active member of the Tamil Methodist Church, serving as a Sunday School teacher, secretary, and chairman until his passing.
On Aug 6, 1960, my father married my mother, T. Ruth Amirthanayagi, and they were blessed with six children: Andrew, Caroline, Robert, James, Simon, and Anne. Teaching was deeply embedded in our family history. My grandfather, the Rev L.A. Samuel, had been adopted as a teenager by Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham, founder of Methodist and Anglo-Chinese Schools (ACS) in Malaya and Singapore in the 1880s. The bishop later sent him to the Wesleyan College in Madras (now Chennai).
Grandfather became a Methodist pastor and headmaster at schools in Sitiawan, Sentul, and Bukit Rotan. My father’s older brothers, Peter and D. Stephen Samuel, followed in the family tradition. Stephen, now 99, retired as the Deputy Director of Education in Singapore.
Two of my siblings and I also became teachers. Caroline, Robert, and I started as primary school teachers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Negri Sembilan, later earning their degrees from Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. Caroline retired as a Banting Vocational College lecturer in June 2022, while Robert retired as the Co-Curricular Senior Assistant at Victoria Institution in January 2023. I retired as the afternoon session sports secretary and teacher at SMK St Paul in 2022.
In September 1973, my father took my mother and me on our first “overseas” trip to Singapore for my cousin Solomon George’s wedding, where we also visited his brother Stephen’s family.
Four years later, in November 1977, he organised a school excursion that took students to the New Straits Times headquarters, where they met Lat, the cartoonist. The trip included visits to Amoy Canning Factory, RTM’s Angkasapuri, Zoo Negara, Tugu Negara, and the Walls Ice Cream factory.
Appa was an avid sportsman in his youth, excelling in swimming and running the 440- and 880-yard races at MBSKL. He also loved football, and we spent many evenings watching the 1982 FIFA World Cup together on RTM.
In August 1985, I began my teaching career at SK Temiang. Tragically, exactly one year later, on Aug 12, 1986, my father was involved in a car accident near our home. He was admitted to Seremban General Hospital (SGH), where he stayed for 54 days.
On my 20th birthday, Oct 1, he kissed me on the cheek and, with a heavy heart, mentioned that he wished there had been a birthday cake. It was one of the last conversations we had. Despite his advice against us becoming teachers – he believed it was a profession better suited to women – my brother Robert and I entered the field, driven by the economic recession.
Our hearts broke when my father passed away on Oct 4, 1986. His funeral, held on Oct 5, saw over 500 people filling the 300-seat church, with hundreds more paying their respects at our home.
Appa was a loving father who always took care of us, even nursing us back to health when we were sick. He brought home athletes from SKGPM, letting them rest at our home during the West Seremban District Athletics Championships (MSSDSB). Some of my fondest memories are of our evening walks as a family to the Seremban Lake Gardens. My father would carry my little sister Anne on his shoulders.
We had a dog named Ringo which alerted us every time a python crept under our house which stood on stilts. We also reared chickens and ducks.
The lessons my father taught us remain etched in our minds. His love, dedication, and sacrifices live on in us, and we miss him deeply every day.
All of us miss his careful driving and the jokes he told on family trips to Port Dickson and Kuala Lumpur from the 1960s to 1986.
May the Lord bless his soul.
