K. Thanabalasingam

Who is K. Thanabalasingam?

Rear Admiral Tan Sri Dato' Seri K. Thanabalasingam is the third chief of the Royal Malaysian Navy and the first Malaysian to be appointed to the post.

Born in 1936, December 0, 1936. of Ceylonese or Sri Lankan Tamil descent, Thanabalasingam joined the British Royal Malayan Navy, which was then under British control, in May 1955. He was sent to the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England, from which he graduated in early 1958.

He then decided to join the newly established Malayan Navy, which was fully Malayan owned and administered in late 1958. On his return to Malaya, he was appointed the first Naval Cadet Training Officer at the then Federation Military College at Port Dickson from January 1, 1959.

By then, newly independent Malaya under Tunku Abdul Rahman's leadership had successfully negotiated with the British Government to transfer the British Royal Malayan Navy to the Malayan Government on July 1, 1958.

The British Royal Malayan Navy and all its assets were merged with the existing Malayan Navy and from then on it became Malayan owned and administered. This new entity was named Royal Malayan Navy, and the designation “Royal” was a reference to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.