His Story
A. Govindasamy Kandiar (Arumugam Govindasamy Kandiar) was born in Kandian Kaadu, India on 9th September 1907.
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He was the son of Arumugam Kandiar, a trader, and Kanamma. He the only son of 9 children, wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
The death of his father when he was a child, was perhaps the birth of his resilient nature. Leaving behind his family and motherland at the young age of 16, he moved to Singapore and began his journey.
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Pictured above are A.Govindasamy Kandiar (left) and his mother Kanamma (right).
Home
Growing up poor, he knew the value of hard work. He came from humble beginnings, living in a house with holes in its roof that leaked water on rainy days. While his father was educated, he never had the patience or interest in knowledge. He would hide in his house to escape from going to school. The mischievous and playful child of his youth cost him as he grew to become the man who, when he was in his late 70’s, got people to teach him to write.
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(Pictured above is A.Govindasamy with his wife and 6 children, excluding his last son Raveendren Kandier who hadn't been born yet)
Early Years in Singapore
Starting off as an odd job labourer when he first arrived, he had many failed ventures. From an ice cream company the flopped to a chicken farm that was an overnight failure when someone stole his chickens. However, he never gave up. As a young man in a foreign country, he never let his lack of education or experience stray him from his dreams of being successful. Coming to Singapore, he sought to find a brighter future and in the promise of a better life, he fought. Despite his lack of education, he never felt that he was at a disadvantage. He couldn’t speak English but learned to speak the national language, Malay. His confidence led him to find ways to get his way. His persistence and mental strength along with his ever positive attitude were his greatest attributes. Despite believing that he was a lucky man, he never got complacent and had enough self-confidence to last generations. His work ethic passed on to his elder son Gnane, who helped him develop his company.
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(Above pictured are A. Govindasamy and his wife on the left, at his son Gnane's wedding along with the rest of the family)
What's he like?
Known for his deep-set eyes and piercing gaze, he was remembered and loved by many. Thick black glasses on his hooked nose, scorpion tattoo on his wrist, his booming voice, standard crisp white shirt and black pants despite the occasion, were his trademarks and that’s the image that came to mind for many whenever his name was brought up. He never let up with his routines till his last day. Every morning, he’d drink a jug of oats and left for work at his office at 10A Robinson Road. When he was older he still kept going, selling Singapore Pools tickets. Even at that age, he’d work till evening and come home for dinner late each night. After eating what his wife had cooked, occasionally his favourite fish or liver curry, he’d end his night with a dose of his dark liquor of choice, either brandy or whiskey. On the weekends, without fail he had to listen to the radio as he read his newspaper.
Nature
Govindasamy Kandiar’s strict but fair nature was evident not only at work but at home as well. He was very close to his family in the sense that he did all he could to provide for them for their every need. To grow from a boy living in a shabby house with a leaking roof, to a regal bungalow with his own business was no mean feat. All this in the time of World Wars and economic depressions, he made a great life for himself and then later, for his family.
But that success came with sacrifices like the limited time he had left to spend with his family. Despite that, the Kandiar clan was a close knit family. While he was working, the most important person to him was his wife Nagammal, who kept their family united, caring. She was always close to him, supporting and spurring him on, no matter what the situations presented. As any family does, his came with its own set of uphill battles. His knack for business was occasionally overshadowed by his impulsive nature in spending his money.
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Jumping into new business ventures had at some points in time, left his family without water supply as it was cut due to non payment, as recalled by one of his children. Despite this, his wife stood by him and supported him and the family. He is, to this day remembered as being generous, ambitious and tenacious. Loving and motivated, he will never be forgotten by the later generations as he was looked up to by all, especially his granddaughters.
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(Above pictured are A.Govindasamy and his wife on their wedding day)
A.G and Company
When talking about Govindasamy Kandiar, a word that is brought up without fail is 'businessman'. Not the briefcase carrying, suit wearing sort, but true to the sense of the word. A self-made man, humble and hard-working, he never accepted “no” for an answer. The creation of his cleaning company (A. Govindasamy and Co.), was the start of his family business as it was the combination of his two loves; business and his family! Govindasamy had excellent public relations and this coupled with the help of his eldest son, then 15, ensured the success of the company, shedding blood, sweat and tears.
By the 1970’s, his company had about 400 workers including part-timers, which was astonishingly the same as the number of daily rated employees in City Gas. Though he would never agree, it was perhaps one of his two greatest achievements, building such a successful cleaning business as well as buying a home for his wife and 7 children. But that did not make him complacent much less, satisfied. He always wanted to do more. Never stopping and never slowing down, one could say he never had a greatest achievement as he was never truly satisfied with what he had.
On his last day he claimed how he was disappointed that he did not live till he was 100 years old. He mentioned how his doctor told him he was very healthy at 80 and as such he still had so many plans yet to be achieved. Perhaps not having proper education was his greatest regret. There could have been new business ventures he could have seen through. Otherwise, it could have just been an inbred pressure to do more due to his struggles as a child resulting in a lack of satisfaction as an adult. This is not to say he did not fail. But where he did, he took it in his stride to achieve greatness.
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(Above pictured is A.Govindasamy, second from the left, along with other respected businessmen in the community)
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