e-Paper
The National Skin Centre (NSC) has honoured the late Associate Professor Venketesan Sundarajan by naming the auditorium in its new building at Mandalay Road after him.
Inaugurated on Oct 25, the auditorium is part of the expanded NSC, which is more than double the size of its former building.
“The fact that he is honoured many years after his death is a true testament to the impact he left on the dermato-venereology sector in Singapore,” said his widow Kokila, 82.
“He looked stern but was actually big-hearted, always helping others. He would invite the hospital staff to our home for Deepavali. I remember his secretary describing him as ‘a gem’.”
It was also this soft side to Prof Rajan, as he was better known, that sparked a flurry of messages from doctors from around the world following his death.
“He was a caring and compassionate person who would help the needy without fanfare,” said family friend Sumitra Bala Subramanion, recounting how a senior woman was inconsolable at Prof Rajan’s wake. It turned out that he had been providing financial support to the woman’s family.
Prof Rajan played a major role in the development of dermatology and venereology in Singapore. He died in 1983, at age 49.
As medical superintendent of Middle Road Hospital from 1972 to 1983, he spearheaded the establishment of facilities and services for mycology, dermato-pathology and dermato-immunology. He was also instrumental in developing the Sexually Transmitted Infections Public Health programme to one of international recognition.
“Having been at the helm when plans to establish NSC began in the early-1980s, Prof Rajan laid the foundational need for the country’s first purpose-built specialty centre,” said NSC director Tan Suat Hoon.
“It is befitting that the auditorium in the new NSC building is named in his honour, not only to reflect the enduring and profound effects of his life’s work, but also to serve as a beacon inspiring current and future generations of dermatologists to strive for progress and excellence in this field.”
Prof Rajan’s legacy of educational excellence lives on through the Dermatological Society of Singapore’s V.S. Rajan Gold Medal, an award for medical students excelling in dermatology.
But it was not all work and no play for the 1980 Public Administration Gold Medal honoree.
According to Madam Kokila, her late husband, who was on the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society’s management committee from 1970 to 1983, was “very passionate about music”.
He was also a member of the Hindu Advisory Board and the Tamil Language Cultural Society, and vice-president of the Indian Education Trust.
“He looked stern but was actually big-hearted, always helping others.”
