100 not out for champion of Malayalee community

Anthony Cruz Pereira, one of the founding members of the All Malaysia Malayalee Association (AMMA), is looking forward to celebrating his 100th birthday with family and friends on September 13.


The AMMA patron was one of the instrumental figures helping to form the society for the welfare of the Malayalee Catholic community in Malaysia.

Despite wearing a hearing aid and loss of his sight, Pereira was upbeat on the plans for his birthday bash that will be held on Saturday September 12, a day before his actual birthday.

I’m excited to see my niece and nephews that have come from as far as Australia. I will also be donning a white suit for the occasion,” he said.

Pereira fondly remembers how the society started from humble beginnings in 1954, when they used to visit the Malayalee communities around the country.

“The association was formed all over Malaysia. We use to help the Malayalee community by providing tuition for poor children.

We also taught them how to read and write in Malayalam,” he said. His daughter Susan Periera said that as recognition for his efforts, her father was given a standing ovation at the association’s first annual delegates’ conference at the Hotel JayaPuri in 1975.

 “My father was also given a garland by former Sarawak chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, and presented a golden shawl and garland by then-MIC Deputy President Datuk S. Subramaniam in Seremban,” she said, adding that he was active in the association till the late 1980s.

 “The society was formed in 1958, which was known as the Malayalee Catholic Welfare Society of Malaysia. My father was the founding secretary and later he went on to become the president,” she said.

Susan said that her father was very active in church after his retirement from the National Electricity Board in 1978, now Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).

 “When he retired he dedicated his time to the National Society of St Vincent De Paul (SVDP) of St Joseph’s Church.

They used to visit hospitals and give out groceries to more than 50 poor families every month. He dedicated 22 years’ service to the SVDP until he retired in 2002,” she said. Pereira was born in Cheria Thoppe, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India on September 13, 1915.

He was the only son of Cruz Pereira and Carmel Pereira. He has three sisters Cecelia, Susanna and Victoria.

After having completed his senior secondary school, he joined the Royal Indian Air Force and served his country for two years.

He then moved to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and worked in the air force there for a couple of years before moving to Bombay (Mumbai).

Pereira then got married to Josephine Netto at the Church of Eygpt in Santa Cruz, Bombay in 1948. After which, Pereira then uprooted from Bombay and moved to Singapore in 1952.

He worked with ICI there for two years, before moving to Malaya in 1954. He worked in Layola High School in Sentul until he joined the National Electricity Board (TNB) and served until his retirement in 1978.

 Pereira has been blessed with two children Christopher and Susan. His son Christopher got married in 1986 and passed away in 1993, leaving behind wife Merry and daughter Natasha.

His daughter Susan was married to Guna in 1989 and they have three children Michael, Christina and Joshua. Pereira celebrated his golden wedding anniversary in St Joseph’s Church Sentul in 1997, but his wife Josephine passed away in 1999. – September 10, 2015. -


Source : http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/citynews/greater-kl/article/100-not-out-for-champion-of-malayalee-community#sthash.KdYaPP2y.dpuf