After receiving his scholarship, Mr Santhiran Ezhavarasan met Mr S R Nathan. The chat he had with the former Singapore president made him realise the importance of education.

Mr Nathan had encouraged Mr Santhiran, then an Institute of Technical Education (ITE) student to get a place in a polytechnic. When he was given the scholarship from the S R Nathan Education Upliftment Fund, the 23-year-old Santhiran was in his final semester of ITE.

“A month after my father passed away, I received the scholarship. It helped pay for my school fees and also have some pocket money,” said Mr Santhiran at the Indian Community’s Tribute event for the late Mr Nathan organised by the Hindu Endownment Board (HEB), Narpani Pearavai and Singapore Indian Development Association (Sinda) on Sept 8.

“Two weeks ago, I was confirmed a place in Republic Polytechnic to pursue Diploma in Sports Coaching. But unfortunately Mr Nathan is not around to share my joy. He will always be remembered,” said Mr Santhiran in his tribute.

Singapore’s former president S R Nathan dies

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He was one of seven speakers at the event at PGP hall in Sri Srinivasan Perumal Temple on Serangoon Road. Mr Nathan died at the age of 92 on Aug 22.

Former Minister S. Dhanabalan related how he was surprised to hear Mr Nathan speak in fluent Japanese in the days when the Japanese wanted to invest in Singapore.

He also listed the positions Mr Nathan held in the various ministries and how he never failed to acknowledge others with a handshake and smile.

Said Dr Uma Rajan, lovingly called the dancing doctor by her medical colleagues: “Mr Nathan is the reason for the big scale health carnivals held for the Indian community in the temples these days.”

Chairman of Singapore Kadayanallur Muslim League A.R. Mashuthoo, and President of Singapore Khalsa Association Mohinder Singh said in their eulogies how Mr Nathan was very supportive of their community activities. Both said Mr Nathan had attended many events held by the two communities, which served as a great encouragement to them.

Member of the Hindu Advisory Board and Sinda Term Trustee K. Kesavapany recalled how, when Mr Nathan was the Chairman of the Seamen’s Registry Board back then in 1968, he asked a seaman whether he had taken his lunch while he approached Mr Nathan for help regarding work-related problems.

Singapore says farewell to former president S R Nathan

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“What struck me was the priority that Mr Nathan gave to an immediate human need – hunger, and not to systemic issue of man’s problem, which was subsequently and swiftly resolved,” said Mr Kesavapany.

Chairman of HEB, Mr R Jayachandran, mentioned how Mr Nathan helped HEB in various ways.

Mr Nathan’s wife Urmila, son Osith and daughter Juthika were among those who attended the event.

Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister of Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Finance & Ministry of Law Indranee Rajah, MPs Janil Puthucheri and Darryl David, also took part in the tribute ceremony. DPM Tharman presented Mr Nathan’s family an album containing about 80 photos which showed Mr Nathan’s involvment in the various Indian organisations over the past decades.

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Wilson Silas David is a journalist with Tamil Murasu.

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A wholesale store to six minimarts to a multi-storey shopping complex – that is the evolution of All India Supermart, owned by cousins Mr Madhi Ayyakkannu and Mr Rethina Kumar.

Said Mr Ayyakkannu, 45, of their decision to scale the business: “We were bringing in all these products (rice, dhal and spices) to supply to the retail stores so we thought, why don’t we start a chain of such stores on our own too.”

The duo went ahead with their idea and set up minimarts in different parts of Singapore such as Paya Lebar, Bedok and Teban Gardens.

But as their business expanded, they faced challenges managing the manpower and keeping a check on the stores all at once.

“Then we thought, why don’t we consolidate all these stores into one and manage a complex at one place,” said Mr Ayyakkannu, who is from Tamil Nadu.

And that is how All India Supermart, a four-storey 20,000 sq ft shopping complex on Norris Road, was born.

Mr Ayyakkannu manages the operations while Mr Kumar handles the accounts and human resource aspect of the business.

Visitors can find a large range of products at All India Supermart – frozen products, fresh vegetables, spices, household items, cosmetics, medical items, toys, stationery, prayer items, trolley bags, watches, apparel and electronics.

“We have built a very comprehensive complex. If our customers want an item, they don’t have to walk far within the complex to get it.

“They don’t need to waste their time finding the products high and low. We are not overly big and at the same time we cater to our customers’ shopping needs,” said Mr Ayyakkannu.

Price is another factor that the cousins have thought very carefully about. They opened the complex aiming to keep the costs as low as possible.

“Our tagline is wholesale prices at retail mart. We want to keep the cost as low as possible – just like when we first opened our minimarts – we sold everything at wholesale prices so we can attract and retain customers. It also makes us stand out from other supermarts,” he said.

A new concept

With that in mind, they came up with a new concept for the sale of their spices, dhals and grains.

Customers can buy as much as they want instead of buying pre-packed quantities that weigh 500g or 1kg.

“We were inspired by the olden day concept where a worker would scoop spices, dhals and grains from a gunny sack and then the customer pays for the amount he buys,” said Mr Ayyakkannu.

Mr Kumar, 65, and Mr Ayyakkannu came up with a modern version of the concept where customers can get the amount of spices, dhals and grains they want from dispensers. The price is decided based on how much they take.

“And they are cheaper than pre-packed packs,” added Mr Ayyakkannu.

Though there are other shops that sell a similar range of items in the vicinity, the owners are happy to face competition.

“We will keep working hard knowing that there is competition. In fact, we will work even harder for our customers so we can retain them,” said Mr Ayyakkannu.

Future plans

All India Supermart is open from 10am to 11pm every day. But they have plans to keep it open for 24 hours.

In addition, it is coming up with a smartphone app that will let customers buy their groceries online and opt for home delivery.

The cousins are still working on details such as the minimum amount for online orders and the delivery time window. They plan to introduce this in January next year.

They will also be coming up with “an interesting and big promotion” for Deepavali.

“We opened All India Supermart on Nov 7 last year. This year, we will celebrate our first anniversary together with Deepavali by offering our customers the promotion,” said Mr Ayyakkannu.

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As expected, queues for the newest Apple iPhones, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, formed in many locations in Singapore as early as yesterday morning (Sept 15) ahead of sales today. However, media reports show that many people in the queues were buying the phones not for themselves.

The Straits Times (ST) reported that the first person in the queue at Courts Orchard, a 25-year-old student from Nanyang Institute of Management, was there with nine other students from the same school. They were there to buy the phones for a friend, who wanted to “send them to his family in Vietnam”.

Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported that, over at City Square Mall, a 26-year-old university student studying in Vietnam started queuing at 10am yesterday morning. The woman flew to Singapore specifically for the phone, which she plans to sell in Vietnam as it “can be resold for at least S$3,000”.

She claimed that the queue at City Square Mall started as early as 6am on Thursday morning.

iPhone 7 launch in Asia

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CNA reported that there were about 25 people in a queue outside Nex Mall in Serangoon at about midnight on Friday. A man in the queue admitted that he plans to resell the phone as “right now, I can get about $2,100 for the new iPhone 7”. He said he’ll buy one for himself later, from a telecoms operator here.

ST reported that the second person in line at 313 Somerset was a 60-year-old housewife who was queuing to buy an iPhone 7 Plus in black for her son. The phone, however, is for a foreign customer of her 40-year-old construction manager son.

Many foreigners were also spotted in the various queues.

ST said that at 8am today at Courts Orchard, “most of the 30 people in line were foreigners”, including two from India, who was here for a holiday. At 9am, about 300 were in the queue at 313@Somerset, “including many foreigners”.

The newspaper also spoke to a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Indonesia in the queue at Ion Orchard. The man, who is in Singapore for vacation, had to settle for a phone in a colour not of his choice. “I will probably sell the phone later to get the phone in the colour I want,” he said.

CNA said that when it arrived at 313@Somerset on Thursday night, at about 11pm, more than 60 people were in line. “Some had arrived from overseas, and brought their luggage along with them,” it reported.

In the queue was a 23-year-old Penn State University student from Thailand, who said he came to Singapore to buy the phone as there is usually a “one- or two-month delay in Thailand”.

sinsh@sph.com.sg

Apple Holds Press Event To Introduce New iPhone

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