GEORGE ABRAHAM
H
E HAD retired to Chennai
after leaving his mark on
the Singapore business
scene. Mr G. Ramachandran, who
served as president of the Singapore
Indian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (SICCI) for several terms,
died on March 6.
A well-loved leader and doyen of
the Indian business community, he
won respect from both the north and
south Indian members in SICCI. He
is the son of noted philanthropist,
the late Mr P. Govindasamy Pillai
who set up several PGP stores in Sin-
gapore and Malaysia.
Mr Ramachandran was president
of SICCI in 1966-68, 1973-74 and
1982-86.
He was also president of the Singa-
pore Federation of Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (predeces-
sor to the Singapore Business Federa-
tion) in 1986-88 and 1990-1992,
and president of the Asean Cham-
bers of Commerce and Industry
1990-91.
In his first term as SICCI presi-
dent, he initiated a submission of
views on the resumption of trade
with Indonesia following the Con-
frontation, a memorandum to the
Constitutional Commission 1966 on
the safeguards for minorities in Sin-
gapore and views on the Draft Com-
panies Bill 1966 in
newly independent
Singapore.
He served actively
on the Shipping
Freight Working Com-
mittee that cam-
paigned to break the
monopoly of the con-
ference system.
He motivated the
chamber’s trading
members to rally to
the Government’s call
for greater efforts to in-
crease exports to new
markets.
He also initiated
the chamber’s support
for Singapore’s indus-
trialisation pro-
gramme by giving
scholarships and bur-
saries to students tak-
ing technical courses
in tertiary institu-
tions.
From 1982 to
1986, he enlarged the
role of the chamber with active par-
ticipation in the newly formed
Asean Chambers of Commerce and
Industry through the Working
Group on Trade.
The working group sought to ex-
pand Asean exports by challenging
non-tariff and other barriers created
by the major importing countries.
Seeking to find new markets for
members, he initiated visits to far-
flung regions such as Brazil (1983)
and Eastern Europe (1985) with
SICCI taking the first Singapore dele-
gation to Poland and Hungary in
1985.
It was also in that year that he en-
couraged the focus on small and
medium-sized enterprise develop-
ment that saw the chamber submit-
ting a paper to then Minister for
Trade and Industry Lee Hsien
Loong’s Economic Committee.
He was also responsible for the
changes in SICCI’s constitution that
set term limits for office bearers and
committee members so that fresh
blood could be injected into the man-
agement council.
His benevolence in dealings with
those in need and his largesse in hos-
pitality to all is well known.
Always ready to speak candidly,
he said at the 60th anniversary of
SICCI in 1986: “The chamber is a
permanent testimony of Indian in-
volvement and commitment to the
economy of Singapore.
“Although we’re known as snake
charmers, peanut vendors, hole-in-
the-wall shop owners, it is perhaps
true to say that Indian businessmen
were among the first established
multinational trading houses in the
history of the region.”
➥
George Abraham was executive
director of SICCI during the period
1980–2003.
Business world loses a leader
G. Ramachandran
was president of the
Singapore Indian
Chamber of
Commerce and
Industry
In august
company...
(Above) Mr
Ramachandran
with then
Indian Prime
Minister Indira
Gandhi during
her visit to
Singapore in
1966.
(Top) Mr
Ramachandran
inaugurating
SICCI’s new
premises in
1986.
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Page6
March16,2018
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