14/09/2025
Today marks the 8th anniversary of Dr Pon Sathianathan’s passing!
Dr Sathianathan was a towering figure in Melbourne’s Tamil community — a familiar name, a trusted family doctor, and a cultural visionary.
For many in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, his clinic was the first point of care. But his impact reached far beyond medicine.
Out of his own pocket, he poured millions into uplifting the Tamil diaspora: launching Tamil television and press outlets, establishing the first Tamil library, distributing free Thiruvalluvar statues and Tamil-language keyboards to Tamil households, and promoting Tamil schools. He championed the integration of the Tamil language into computer technology.
In the 1980s and 1990s, he played a key role in bringing notable Eelam & Tamil Nadu leaders to Australia, strengthening ties between the diaspora and the homeland.
Throughout, he remained a committed supporter of the Tamil freedom struggle and a trusted confidant of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
As we remember his enduring legacy, we are pleased to share an article titled “Living Tamil” by Arooran Raveendran, with kind permission from Ethiroli Publications.
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Dr. Sathi was born at Karaveddy in Northern Jaffna on 17 November 1948.
He studied medicine in Sri Lanka and started employment at teaching hospitals. As always, he preferred Tamil areas, to live amongst his people and learn their heritage, so elected hospitals in Jaffna, Trinco, Mannar and the like.
He taught medicine at Jaffna Medical College. The university lacked dead bodies for practicals and in an area mired in tradition and superstition, no bodies came to the campus.
He would personally travel and pay vulnerable under privileged communities to sell the corpses of their recently deceased, as often these communities could not afford the cost of cremation. Such was his dedication to his students, and in this process, he became incensed about the caste system and religion.
A free thinker from his youngest days, a true libertarian, always a fearless critic of religion, including the colonial propagation of the caste system, and was admired for his forthrightness.
A free thinker from his youngest days, a true libertarian, always a fearless critic of religion, including the colonial propagation of the caste system, and was admired for his forthrightness.
He was proud to be a Tamil, loved Tamil as a language and as a culture, and supported anything that could be done for its propagation and celebration.
He adopted "Valluvam" as his life's moral, and its author, Valluvar, as his mentor. It is in this aspect that he contributed so much, financially supporting Tamil schools throughout Australia, Malaysia and India, sponsoring programmes and inviting people versed in Tamil for lectures in Australia, organised seminars about Valluvar, imported statues of Valluvar and gave them to every Tamil home free of charge.
He fiercely dedicated himself to the liberation cause. He initially helped whoever asked for support towards achieving his people's freedom.
The internal quarrels had pained him, he had devoted himself to make everybody work together, but realised that the growth of a strong one above others had to be accepted. As was his nature, he remained very loyal to Prabakaran as the leader of the liberation struggle.
He singlehandedly funded the bilingual newspaper, Tamil World and TV, employed people and set up a professional outfit to bring out same as Voice of Tamils. Similarly, the Tamil Centre, Valluvar Kottam were all his efforts.
He believed in Tamil as a fluid culture going forward into the 21st century, and so his efforts to promote Tamil were backed with technology and computer equipment that was always cutting edge. I was always awed by the sheer expense he outlaid on media technology year after year.
He always extended his support to any and all Tamil activities.
When venomous opposition circulated regarding the publication Uthayam, he provided his IT help in page making and printing through his printing operation "LIMAT" He educated, completely at his own expense, many young Tamil people, that they may in turn support their culture.
Many refugee clients at my father's law offices from 1986 were referred to Dr. Sathi, in those days before Medicare. He treated them joyfully, and so many of them remain loyal.
He attended my home every evening during the sicknesses of both my grandparents, no matter the hour. His heart was truly gold, and he helped with his time and money selflessly.
The attention on him following his interest in the militant formations prompted him to leave for London in about 1977. True to form he immersed himself with Tamil liberation, which put him in touch with prominent Tamil leaders like Nedumaran.
Through these interactions he visited Tamil Nadu often, and then funded many Tamil Nadu leaders to extend their visits and support the needs of Prabakaran and the LTTE.
Sometimes he seemed eccentric to me, I suppose. I often had lunch with him at La Trobe University, where he would tell me about the earliest days of the Tamil struggle, and in the same breath tell me how he was studying computer coding to develop a Tamil script/translation/ voice literation program.
Despite his criticisms of western influence on Tamil culture, he was always immaculately dressed, including a necktie. However, on his marriage to Nalayani aunty, he insisted that he would get married only on condition that the ceremony was conducted according to Tamil heritage, with natheswaram, and with all wearing vesti and national shirt.
The discussions he had at my home most weeknights with my father were wonderful moments to my sister and me. He would walk into our home shouting, leave shouting, and the following evening he would be back, arguing and laughing all at once.
He insisted my father join with all to help the LTTE pursue the cause, or to respect Prabakaran's invitation to meet and work as in the early days.
Whilst disappointed, he respected my father's positions, but would be back the very next night to try
His love of Tamil was not mere rhetoric.
The conduct of his life and actions were always for Tamil's liberation and glory.
To me, he is very much a latter-day Arumuga Navular, such is his influence, and his achievements will be seen in the next generation.
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