President of Pure Life Society Mother Mangalam dies at 97
KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Datin Paduka A. Mangalam has passed away. She was 97.
The life president of the Pure Life Society in Puchong was known as “Mother Teresa of Malaysia” for her humanitarian work.
The society was founded in 1949 and is a charitable home for the orphaned and underprivileged.
Her former student and the society’s former secretary, Ravindran Raman Kutty, told Free Malaysia Today that Mangalam was admitted to Assunta Hospital two weeks ago for bronchopneumonia before succumbing to her illness.
The funeral will be held on Monday. Those wishing to pay their last respects may do so tomorrow at the Pure Life Society in Puchong from 10am.
According to the society’s official website, Mangalam was born in Singapore on May 17, 1926, and moved to Kuala Lumpur as a teacher in 1948, before joining the society a year later.
Among others, she was conferred the Kesatria Mangku Negara from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 2003 and Pingat Jasa Kebangsaan from the Selangor Sultan in 1955.
She was honoured with the Tun Fatimah Gold Medal from the National Council of Women’s Organisations in 1977, as well as the Merdeka Award in 2010 for education and community.
She was also the Malaysia Inter-Religious Organisation vice-president and a member of the National Advisory Council on the Integration of Women in Development.
