PETALING JAYA: The president of the Pure Life Society Datin Paduka A. Mangalam, died at 3.52pm today at the age of 97.
Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that Mangalam, whose real name is SII A Mangalam, is respectably known as the Malaysian Mother Teresa for her wonderful work with orphans and underprivileged children.
Mangalam who has been with the society for 74 years, reportedly passed away after being admitted to Assunta Hospital a couple of weeks ago for bronchopneumonia.
Her former student and the society’s former secretary, Ravindran Raman Kutty told the online portal that he fondly remembers her as his English teacher in Standard 5 and 6 at SRK Dharma, a school affiliated with the society.
“Mother taught us a lot of things. One of them was that religions are like rivers, they all flow to the same sea,” he was quoted saying.
Mangalam was born in Singapore on May 17, 1926, and moved to Kuala Lumpur as a teacher in 1948, before joining the society in 1949.
Her noble works saw her being conferred the Kesatria Mangku Negara from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 2003 and Pingat Jasa Kebangsaan from the Selangor sultan in 1955.
Mangalam was also honoured with the Tun Fatimah Gold Medal from the National Council of Women’s Organisations in 1977.
