You’d think that after the scores of students that have studied the works of the Bard of Avon in Singapore, we would at least have a school named after him. But no, that honour goes to another poet named Umar Pulavar. Who?
Umar Pulavar, or Umaru Pulavar, is a 17th century Tamil Muslim poet and celebrated as one of India’s great Islamic poets. He lends his name to the Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre in Singapore, which has the honour of being the first Tamil school in Singapore.
where is the umar pulavar tamil language centre, today? for many years, it was tugged away in serangoon road, occupying the premises of the former beatty secondary school. prior to that, the language centre was at st george’s road. i have often wondered why the name ‘umar pulavar’ for a tamil language centre. i found the answer from reading an article about it in the book ‘singapore’s heritage through places of historical interest’ by dhoraisingam s samuel.
the umar pulavar tamil school had a humble beginning at tras street in tanjong pagar. it was established by a group of tamil muslim peons in a shophouse in 1946. in 1950, it moved to a proper building. the chief minister tun lim yew hock laid the foundation stone for the then new school building in april 1959. however, the school was officially declared open in 1960 by the people’s action party’s minister of education, mr yong nyuk lin. it was the first tamil school in singapore.
Where is the school now? You can find out in yg’s post, where he writes and uncovers the history of this school. You can find out more of Umaru Pulavar here, and the school’s official website here.
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Posted on February 4th, 2011 at 8:02 am
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