From the top echelons of government to unionists, they remembered his contributions as a founding father of Singapore's labour movement.

The late Mr Nair died in Canada one month ago at the age of 82.

A minute's silence filled the air at the Singapore Conference Hall in remembrance of Mr Nair - an appropriate venue as this was where he made many speeches to rally workers during the early years of nationhood.

President Sellapan Rama Nathan, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew were among those present.

Many also recalled his contributions to the National Trades Union Congress or NTUC.

Lim Boon Heng, Secretary-General - NTUC, Minister - PM's Office, said: "Devan Nair was the founder of modern trade unionism in Singapore. Today the enduring values of our trade union movement are largely the same as his. Like him, we uphold the values of fairness at work, and social justice in society at large. Like him, we are pragmatic, not ideological, in our approach to achieving our goals."

"In fact, Devan Nair shaped the labour movement with respect to these values from its beginnings, and this is his lasting contribution. Young unionists today need not look overseas for role models. We have our own."

Unionists - young and old - remembered him fondly.

G Muthu Kumar, Trade Unionist, said: "When I joined trade union, he was considered like a father, he taught me how to be a leader. His philosophy when I was a young leader - he told me, Kumar, you want to be leader, you must be honest to yourself then you can be honest to members and do your job properly."

Several family members also flew back to Singapore to attend the memorial service, including his eldest son Janadas Devan.

Janadas Devan said: "What he had to give us was so immensely rich, we never minded in the least that he didn't resemble the fathers our friends had. He would read to us often from literature, he had a near concert-quality singing voice and would entertain us with classical Hindi and Bengali songs. And then there were the conversations - far-ranging, informative, endlessly fascinating. He was a wonderful teacher. Never instructing, but pointing; never insisting but suggesting; never enforcing, but showing."

"One of the things he showed us was commitment. His attachment to my mother was deep and profound. She was the the sister of his best friend from Primary One and they had known each other since she was five and he seven, a friendship and love that spanned 75 years. When she died in April last year, it was like an amputation. The centre of his life was gone, and he seemed ready to die himself."

The family of the late Mr Devan Nair said they were touched by NTUC's efforts to organise this memorial.

Down the road, there're plans to bring his remains back to Singapore from Canada in June, where he'll then be laid to rest in a private ceremony. - CNA/ch

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