The first woman elected to public office in Malaysia, Devaki Krishnan, passed away at the age of 100. This article will discuss the cause of death and the obituary announcement of Devaki Krishnan.
Devaki Krishnan dies at 100: Cause of death and obituary announcement
Her grandson, Ramanan, Deputy Minister for Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, confirmed her death. He told reporters, “She passed away at her home at around 8 o’clock on January 20, 2024, due to old age.”
According to Ramanan, who was also Sungai Buloh’s PKR MP, the family was talking about the funeral plans.
Devaki was elected to the Kuala Lumpur Municipal Council in 1952, making her the longest-serving member of the MIC at the time of her death. She also emerged victorious in the Bangsar seat that year.
She stated to FMT in 2020 that two women’s victories in elections in Singapore and Sri Lanka—at the time nearly unimaginable—were the catalysts for her interest in politics.
Later, Onn Jaafar recruited her for the multiethnic Independence of Malaya Party.
Born in Port Dickson, Devaki ran unsuccessfully as an Alliance candidate for the Sentul seat in 1959.
During the May 1969 riots, she was called upon as a civil defense member to oversee the medical clinic at Merdeka Stadium, where she treated about 3,500 riot victims and the homeless.
Devaki also had a big part in the 1999 effort to change the Guardianship of Infants Act so that single moms could take care of their kids.
She was the wife of P Krishnan, who passed away in 1998, and the first Indian woman to drive in the nation’s capital.
