SINGAPORE - The House fell silent on Wednesday as MPs marked the death of Parliament Tamil translator Palaniappan Arumugum, who died on May 4 at the age of 73.
The sitting began with MPs offering their condolences to his family members, who were in chambers. His widow and their son and daughter, along with their spouses, were seated in front of the glass-panelled translation booths where Mr Palaniappan worked for countless Parliament sessions over his 50 years in public service. On his seat was a bouquet of flowers.
Leader of the House Indranee Rajah, delivering a tribute before the day’s official business, said: “We have lost a good friend and a good man. However, we have been enriched by his contributions, the impact of which still remains.
“He may no longer be with us, but his voice can still be heard in the works he translated and in the Tamil language that he loved so dearly and did so much to promote.”
Mr Palaniappan, who joined the Parliament Secretariat in September 1990, translated Parliament proceedings from English to Tamil and, occasionally, from Tamil to English, until November 2022.
He served for 30 years under five Speakers of Parliament – Mr Tan Soo Khoon, Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, Mr Michael Palmer, Madam Halimah Yacob and Mr Tan Chuan-Jin.
Besides being a translator, he also took up the role of chief liaison officer for many parliamentary conferences hosted by Parliament.
“Many a time, he went beyond official duties to ensure the foreign dignitaries were well taken care of, and received numerous oral and written compliments,” said Ms Indranee.
She added that Mr Palaniappan’s vast experience and expertise in interpretation and translation was highly valued at the national level.
Besides introducing several measures to improve simultaneous interpretation services in Parliament, he was also part of the regular interpretation team for National Day rallies, she said.
Outside of work, he volunteered with the Tamil Language Council for close to 15 years.
He was instrumental in developing a bilingual English-Tamil glossary for the public, as well as an e-glossary for students that has more than a few hundred words that are unique to the Singaporean Tamil context.
In his own time, he also contributed to the building of Tamil vocabulary by starting a Facebook page called “Singai Translate Community”, which deliberated with members of the public on how best to translate complex English words and subject matter into the Tamil language.
In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Efficiency, Public Service, Long Service and Commendation medals in 1996, 2001, 2008 and 2011, respectively.
