Food from the heart
One man is continuing the family tradition of giving food to devotees during religious occasions.
IN 1959, V. Seenivasagam, then 49, began serving free food to those who had gathered at Batu Caves in Gombak, Selangor, to celebrate Thaipusam. Twenty-two years later, his son, Dr Sivakumaran took over the project, which has continued uninterrupted for 53 years.
Seenivasagam had worked as a financial assistant in the accountant’s office at the Ministry of Defence. On Feb 1 last year, he passed away at the ripe old age of 102, due to natural causes.
“My father started giving out free food as a vow to Lord Muruga for curing my late sister of a serious stomach disorder. She, however, died a year later,” says Dr Sivakumaran, the eldest of three boys and four girls. At that time, his uncles and aunts (who have since passed on) and their families also joined in the cause.
“From 1975 to 1977, when I was abroad for further studies, my brothers Sivapalan and Sivalingam organised and carried out the distribution of food during Thaipusam,” says Dr Sivakumaran, 66.
“Presently, my siblings, cousins and their families and friends jointly carry out this activity. They contribute financially and are directly involved in serving food on the eve of Thaipusam and the actual day.”
He is also grateful to his wife, Dr S. Selvayogini, retired head of medical services at Malaysia Airlines, for lending him moral support.
“Since our marriage in 1979, she has been very supportive of our charity work at Batu Caves. The support of my siblings and their families has also given me the motivation and inspiration to continue this service.”
The food project runs up expenses of RM24,000 and feeds about 12,000 people over two days. The menu comprises rice, vegetables, cucumber salad, sambar made of dhal (lentils) and appalam and yoghurt.
When the project first started, Dr Sivakumaran’s mother and aunts prepared food at home and took it to Batu Caves for distribution. The following year, a temporary canopy was allocated by the temple committee and the food was prepared at its grounds.
“We hire experienced cooks to prepare the food. These cooks have been with us for more than two decades and know how to cook on a mass scale,” Dr Sivakumaran says.
In 2004, Datuk R. Nadarajah, president of the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple Devasathanam, which also manages the Subramaniam Temple in Batu Caves, allocated land within the temple grounds for them to put up a permanent building to be used for distribution of food during Thaipusam and for use by other devotees on religious occasions.
“Since then, our project has been carried out in the Annathanam Hall,” he adds.
Dr Sivakumaran’s father also set up the Seenivasagam Saraswathy Charity Trust to ensure the food service will be continued for as long as possible. He put all his savings into a trust fund, which amounted to RM150,000 at the time of his death.
“The fund is managed by trustees comprising my family members and two cousins. We plan to build it up so that interest generated from fixed deposits can pay for the cost of what we need.”
To date, the trustees have yet to dip into the fund because relatives, friends and well-wishers have been generous in contributing cash and in kind.
“A project of this magnitude cannot be carried out successfully without the help and selfless service of volunteers,” says Dr Sivakumaran, who began to “actively manage” the serving of food after graduating from Universiti of Malaya in 1970. He obtained his PHD in plant physiology from the University of Wales, Britain.
He worked with the Malaysian Rubber Board (formerly the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia) from 1970 to 2000 and retired as director of production research and development. He is presently executive director of a company involved in agro-technology in Kajang, Selangor.
Dr Sivakumaran has two children. Daughter Kavina is married and has settled in Australia, while son Anushen is doing post-graduate studies in Britain. A nephew, Rajiv Ananda Rajah, is being “groomed” to take over the charity food project.
As for himself, he says: “My hobby involves physical workouts on my treadmill and exercise bicycle at home for at least 45 minutes a day. I also love reading, mainly biographies of famous people. I believe that all my achievements are due to the blessings of Lord Muruga.”