Tamil Artistes Call For Award To Honour Late Actor V.I. Joseph

When I read this Bernama report the first thing that came to mind was the tv series "Inspector Segar" which captured an entire nation's imagination in the sixties. I was then a small kid, yet I can still vividly remember the stories in that series. It were the days of black and white programmes, we had only one channel and since not many households had tv sets, spending a few hours in a more fortunate neighbour's house to watch tv was the in-thing throughout the country. That was the true and genuine open house on a daily basis.

The Inspector Segar series truly transcended race and community in those days. Everyone looked forward to viewing it once a week. To be frank it was of such a high standard even today's locally made programmes in any of the languages will pale in comparison. When we played cops and robbers, every kid on our street of all races wanted to be Inspector Segar! All those of you who are 45 years and older will probably relate to what I'm posting here. But the hero of that tv series, Major V.I.Joseph, passed away last month at the age of 76. Read below the Bernama report on issues related to him and then we'll continue with my discussion.

Tamil artistes and writers have called for an award be created in honour of the late Mejar V.I. Joseph for his immense contributions to the growth of Tamil dramas in Malaysia.

Best known for his role as "Inspector Segar" in the popular television drama series between 1964 and 1969, he had acted in more than 1,000 stage, radio and television dramas. Joseph, who had legions of fans during his heyday, died of a heart attack on June 15 at the age of 76.

Malaysian Tamil actor-cum-producer Sivaji Rajah said several Tamil writers, actors and cultural organisations were unanimous in their decision to honour the late actor when they met for a condolence meeting here Sunday.

He said they wanted an annual cultural award to be introduced named after Joseph to be conferred on local artistes who have made significant contributions to the Tamil film industry in Malaysia.

One of Joseph's much-admired acting skills was bringing forth a character through his distinct voice, said Sivaji, who got his break in acting when Joseph offered him a role in Inspector Segar, went on to produce several movies, including "Retha Payee" (Blood Vampire), the first Malaysian Tamil film to be shown in India in 1968.

Federal Territory MIC Chief Senator M. Saravanan, who was also present at the function, said it was important to commemorate Joseph in a dignified manner as he had helped many budding artistes get into acting during his more than half a century involvement in the local film industry.

He also suggested producing a biography on the highly-acclaimed Joseph as this would be the highest recognition and honour for the actor who with his fellow artistes had only survived on black coffee and biscuits during the long and arduous hours of producing dramas decades ago.

One-time RTM Tamil actor and producer P.K. Samy said Joseph was also involved in the production of a Tamil drama for radio based on the legendary Malay hero Hang Tuah which was aired on Merdeka Day in 2004. Samy said Joseph helped launch the careers of well-known Tamil actors in Malaysia such as Mano Ramalingam, K. Anba Nanthan, Sivaji Rajah, C. Kone, Devadass and Paranjothy by giving them a part in radio and tv dramas.

Besides acting, Joseph was active in social work and was secretary-general of the St John's Ambulance Malaysia for 25 years and had fought for the country during the Emergency when he served with the 13th Royal Signals Regiment.

He did all these while working full-time with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Jalan Semarak (formerly Jalan Gurney) here which was then known as Technical College.

**** To the Indian community he is the equivalent of Tan Sri P.Ramlee, who indeed was a close friend of his. However unlike Ramlee whose sole claim to fame was entertainment, Major V.I.Joseph was much, much more. A senior officer at the then Technical College, a Major in the Territorial Army, Former Secretary General of the St. John's Ambulance Malaysia, accomplished theater actor, film and tv star and a friend of the poor and the needy. It is people like him who should be honoured by the government. Unfortunately our government only sees it fit to reward and honour Malays, some of whom don't even deserve it.

If you can relate to this post then publicise it. If you're a blogger link it. If you're a prominent person then lobby for this deserving Malaysian. That's the least you could do to keep the name of a truly talented, generous and law-abiding citizen still alive.