Who was the first Singapore Tamilian to climb Mt Everest? Or who was the Indian ‘First Lady’ of Singapore? For the first time in the 200-year history of Singapore Tamils, a dedicated online resource has been created to answer questions like these and many more. The ‘Encyclopedia of Singapore Tamils’ (EST) documents what Singapore Tamils have contributed over the past two centuries.“Though the Singapore Tamils have such nuggets of history, there has been no formal, research-based history of the community,” says Arun Mahizhnan, EST’s chief editor and chief executive of the Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture (CSTC).Singapore’s first encyclopedia was published only in 2006. “It was around this time that we began thinking of creating a similar resource for Singapore Tamils,” says Arun, adding that EST is the first encyclopedia of Indians in Singapore. The Chinese and Malay communities, though larger in number and with longer documented histories, don’t have one yet.Developed with the National Library Board (NLB), EST began as a community-driven project. About 300 volunteers, including 40 NLB staff members, have contributed more than 400 entries across 10 categories, including personalities, organisations, arts and education, in Tamil and English.“EST was published in Aug 2025 to commemorate 60 years of Singapore’s Independence,” says Azhagiya Pandian, deputy director/principal librarian (Tamil language), NLB. “In 2015, the NLB had digitised 350 books on Singapore Tamil literature to commemorate the 50th year of Singapore’s Independence.”Pandian adds that EST includes entries on people with international recognition or major professional milestones, as well as organisations selected for the impact of their work.“A number of entries are accompanied with photographs and videographs. These features can’t be produced in printed books, which is why we chose to make EST an online resource. That’s why we call it a ‘living record’. Before the end of 2026, we plan to increase the entries to 500 from the current 418,” says Pandian.TRACING THE FIRSTS
- Wilson David is a celebrated Singaporean Tamil performer known as ‘Singapore’s Elvis Presley’
- The first Singapore Tamilian to climb Mt Everest was Kumaran Rasappan
- The first Tamil on record to have arrived in Singapore was Naraina Pillai in 1819, from Penang in Malaysia. The govt clerk came along with Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, considered the founder of modern Singapore. The same year the Singapore Stone was discovered near Singapore River. Two centuries later, in 2019, Australian researcher Iain Sinclair identified inscriptions on the stone that could be linked to Chola dynasty of 11th century
