Reprint of ST photo from 1974 brings back her winning smile
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Ms Poonkodi with the March 9 issue of The Straits Times which carried a 1974 photo of her with four nurses in the Picture This section. It was taken following her win in a nationwide dental contest for schoolchildren which she had taken part in after dental nurses in her school praised her "sparkling teeth".
ST PHOTO: TIMOTHY DAVID
Janarthanan Krishnasamy
When Ms Poonkodi was alerted by a childhood friend that her photo had been published in The Straits Times on March 9, she expressed surprise.
The 52-year-old wondered for a moment whether she had done anything significant to merit a place in the daily's Picture This section.
But she was quickly informed that the newspaper had reprinted a photo of her taken in 1974 when, as a six-year-old going by the name P. Boong Kodi, she won the first prize in a nationwide dental contest for schoolchildren.
The original news story, headlined "Boong Kodi flashes her $200 smile", was published along with a photo of the Primary 1 girl and four dental nurses in The Straits Times on July 28, 1974.
"I was surprised to see that my photo was reprinted, (and) much bigger this time round," said the senior associate executive at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, who changed her name to Poonkodi because she did not like the original spelling, which was the creation of an employee at the birth registry.
The Straits Times reported that the Pek Seah School student beat 723 other primary school children to win the dental contest in 1974, with Lim Seow Hoon, seven, from Dorset School and T. Raja Segar, 12, from Kim Seng West School taking the second and third prizes respectively.
The contest, sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive, was held at the Dental Health Education Unit in Hyderabad Road as part of a nationwide campaign to promote dental health.
"I follow the news on Tamil Murasu's Facebook page quite regularly," said Mr Jackson Chandrasegaran, 53, a passenger services officer at Changi Airport. "Earlier in the day, I saw her picture in The Straits Times, and later I saw the Tamil Murasu post about it. I contacted Poonkodi shortly afterwards."
Ms Poonkodi told tabla! recently that she had taken part in the competition after the dental nurses in her school praised her "sparkling teeth".
She has a faint recollection of being photographed with the competition's judges and staff nurses Teo Hua Yin, Wong Kee Wan, Philomena Yeo and R. Srinivasan.
"I recall the nurses and the cameraman telling me to smile," she said. "At the prize presentation venue, there were many well-dressed Caucasians. I was handed the $200 prize money in front of a large crowd by a television newscaster, a Caucasian man.
"My parents, who did not wish to stay for long, quickly took me away without us having lunch."
Her father, Mr Sankaran Ponnusamy, who died in 2004 aged 74, was a fitter at Keppel Shipyard. Her mother, Madam Thilagam, a housewife, is now 77 years old.
Ms Poonkodi grew up in a two-room Housing Board flat in the Tanjong Pagar area with two older brothers and two younger ones.
After winning the competition, she started getting more attention in school. "Everyone kept calling me 'pal azhagi' (beautiful teeth)," she said.
"My Tamil teacher, Mr Muthaiah, called me that every time he saw me. For a while, I became something of a minor celebrity. Even now, an uncle calls me 'pal azhagi'. He seems to remember me only by that name."
Mr Tamil Selvam, a childhood friend, said he was not surprised to see Ms Poonkodi's photo reappear.
"Several years ago, I posted Poonkodi's old photo in our primary school alumni Facebook group," said the 57-year-old cleaner.
Ms Poonkodi, a single mum, lives in Jurong West with her son, Aravind, 22, and daughter, Ashmitha, 17.
Her teeth are still healthy and white. She attributes this to brushing her teeth twice a day as well as using "pal-podi" (teeth-cleansing powder).
