Dr Sivakumaran Ramalingam, a retired Associate Professor who currently lectures part-time at NIE’s Asian Languages and Cultures (ALC) Academic Group, has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award on 18 September 2021. The award was presented by Minister for Education, Mr Chan Chun Sing at a ceremony jointly organised by the Singapore Tamil Language Learning and Promotion Committee, Singapore Tamil Teachers’ Union and Tamil Murasu. The other award categories included Most Inspiring Tamil Teacher and Best Trainee Teacher.
Dr Siva, as he is affectionately known to students and NIE colleagues, was among three retired teachers recognised for contributing over 40 years to the teaching of the Tamil mother tongue in Singapore. The 67-year-old is well-respected for his teaching passion and warm camaraderie with students. In 2018, he was the brainchild behind a colourful skit showcasing Hindu mythologies and the origins of Deepavali, among his endeavours to bring a slice of Tamil culture and infuse Tamil Teaching and Learning.
Dr Siva also led an initiative to spur writers from Singapore to produce more Tamil literary works. Under his guidance, Tamil Creative Writing Residency Programme was incepted in 2016 by the National Arts Council (NAC) and NIE. It was the first programme of its kind in South East Asia for Tamil literature, providing students with deeper exposure into this artform and honing their creative writing skills. The two-month programme drew positive responses from corporate participants like Mediacorp Vasantham and the Ministry of Education (MOE) as well as NIE students, resulting in the publication of a compilation of short stories by student teachers of Tamil.
An active advocate for Tamil language education, Dr Siva helped to set up Singapore’s first Bachelor of Arts (Education) programme for Tamil Language Specialisation at NIE. The acclaimed educator and researcher also made his mark on the local Tamil education scene through many national-level committees. Throughout his career, Dr Siva authored numerous publications, delivered keynote lectures and presented his research at conferences and universities around the world.
During his speech at the ceremony, Minister Chan spoke about the need to preserve Singapore’s mother tongue languages and the challenges faced by today’s teachers. He lauded Tamil teachers who have developed innovative ways to engage with their students, and paid tribute to pioneer teachers like Dr Siva for their dedication to nurturing students and for being a source of inspiration to Tamil teachers.