Sarvambikai Shanmugaratnam, President Tharman’s mother, dies at age 99
Calista Wong
The Straits Times
April 20, 2026
Mrs Sarvambikai Shanmugaratnam, the mother of President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, died late in the afternoon of April 19. She was 99.
In response to queries, the President’s Office confirmed her death on April 20, stating that she was “cremated soon after in a private observance”.
“We ask that the family’s privacy be respected during this time,” it added.
According to an obituary published on the Obits.sg website, Mrs Shanmugaratnam was born in Kuala Lumpur on July 5, 1926. She was the fourth of 11 children born to Dr A. Viswalingam and Ms Rathnammal Ayathurai, both natives of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
“A quiet iconoclast, she always kept her own counsel in holding to a different path, and stood on the side of adventure and independence in life,” according to the obituary.
She was married to the late Emeritus Professor Kanagaratnam Shanmugaratnam, also known as Singapore’s “father of pathology”. He died in 2018, aged 97.
She is survived by their three children and four grandchildren, and two sisters.
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