A road named after Veerasamy Naidu in Singapore

Veerasamy Road - Little India/ Singapore

Veerasamy Road was renamed twice in its history; it was originally called Inche Lane, and was renamed Jalan Tambah in 1910. In 1927, the road was renamed again as Veerasamy Road, in honour of Dr N. Veerasamy Naidu (1865-1926), one of Singapore’s first Indian doctors and a leader in the local Indian community.

Dr N Veerasamy Naidu was born in 1864. He was the son of Narayanasamy Naidu and Ramanuja Ammal. He learned Tamil from the age of four from his grandfather, Kuppusamy Naidu. He studied English at the Raffles School in Singapore and first worked at the lawyer’s office of Mr Cook. Unsatisfied in his job and drawn to the study of medicinal herbs, he decided to pursue an education in medical science and eventually worked in a hospital owned by Govindasamy Naidu. He set up his own clinic called Indian Dispensary in Rochor Road and derived effective scientific and traditional treatments for a variety of new diseases. He was the President of the Hindu Advisory club and was conferred the title of Justice of Peace.

He was later appointed as a Municipal Commissioner and Justice of Peace. Dr Veerasamy was buried at his family burial ground at Bedok after his death in 1926.

It was only in 1912 that the first Hindu public Holiday was granted to the Indian community by the government. This was for Deepavali,57 but it was not legislated as an annual affair. The first Legislated Hindu Public Holiday came in 1914 when the Hindu community was given a say to choose between Deepavali or Thaipusam. In a meeting of the Hindu Association, presided by Dr Veerasamy.