PETALING JAYA: Malaysians across the country mourned the loss of Pure Life Society (PLS) president Mother Mangalam, who died on Saturday after having served the statutory body for 72 years. She was 97.
A well-known and respected member of society, Mangalam will always be known as a kind and compassionate person who was always there for the poor and needy.
Geetha Madhavan, a member of the PLS editorial team, said Mangalam was a humanitarian who cared for people from all walks of life regardless of race.
“That’s what she taught us. We don’t care about people’s backgrounds or where they come from. Anyone who comes to PLS is treated well.
“She was also a perfectionist and her love for children was unbreakable. She ensured all things were done correctly and perfectly according to the standards she had set.”
Born in 1926 in Singapore, Mangalam attended Raffles Girls’ School and Saradhamani Girls’ School.
In 1948, she came to Malaysia for her teacher’s training and met Dr Swami Satyananda, who founded PLS.
Its vice-president Datuk V.L. Kandan said growing up with Satyananda helped Mangalam to embody the spiritual and compassionate aspects of serving the poor and downtrodden.
“Somehow, Mangalam and Satyananda met and jointly decided to build this sanctuary for destitute mothers and orphaned children who were victims of World War II, particularly as a result of the Siam-Burma death railway during the Japanese Occupation.
“The motto for the institute was ‘One God, One World, One Race’. In other words, its ambition was to have a united people in a multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-faceted Malaya.
“Unfortunately, Satyananda passed away in an accident in 1961 and it was his choice for Mangalam to take over the position of president.
“Mangalam epitomised PLS and PLS was Mangalam. She served a total of 72 years as its president before passing away due to complications caused by pneumonia and Covid-19,” he said.
Kandan added that he learned many things from Mangalam.
“She was a very patient woman. She taught me to have patience, humility and respect for others. When I was younger, I was always hot-headed and rash, but my time with her helped me mellow my emotions and made me a better person.”
Kandan said Mangalam’s greatest achievement was nurturing over 2,500 children that were not born to her.
“She looked after all of them for over 70 years and instilled in them good morals. Her greatest legacy is leaving behind a society that can continue raising the needy.”
Marie Puspan, 60, an alumnus of PLS’s home and welfare section, was an orphan at PLS from the age of 11 to 17. One of the things she recalls the most about Mangalam is her discipline and style of teaching.
“What I liked about her is that she trained children to be self-empowered and self-dedicated. She taught them to be whoever they wanted to be. She also taught all of us to respect all religions and races regardless of background because all people deserve love.”
Marie said she was placed in PLS because she came from a home with parents who were divorced.
“I never had the opportunity to engage in family activities, especially during the holidays, like other children.
“But Mother (Mangalam) would bring us, the less fortunate, to her parent’s house to spend time like a real family. We would cook together during holidays such as Deepavali and it would give us a sense of love we rarely received outside of PLS.”
