Subramaniam Sathasivam

Subramaniam was born on 1 April 1953 to Sathasivam, an assistant registrar of trade unions.^[3] He received his early education at the Penang Free School. He graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1978. Upon graduation from the NUS, Subramaniam immediately returned to Malaysia to serve in the Ministry of Health at the District Hospital in Taiping, Perak. He moved from Taiping, Perak to Tangkak in Johor and then Malacca, where he finally settled into his own private practice in 1985.

Subramaniam is a trained and accomplished dermatologist.^[4] He furthered his medical practice with a focus on Dermatology, firstly obtaining the Diploma in Dermatology (with distinction) from the University of Wales (UK) in 1994 and Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) in Ireland in 1998. He was elected as the President of the Malacca Branch of the Malaysian Medical Association (1992 to 1994).^[5][6]

Subramaniam is married to S. Umarani.

After the 2013 election, Subramaniam became the Minister for Health. This brings him back to the Ministry where he first served as a house officer, nominating preventive health and public awareness of health issues as priorities.^[7] Since his appointment as Minister of Health, he has worked to formulate a health transformation plan to address the country's challenges and needs. His focus is mainly on increasing public awareness on health issues, especially early detection and prevention of diseases).

Over the years since he was appointed as Health Minister, he has shown his tremendous support in oral health in Malaysia particularly in highlighting the importance of integrating oral health promotion into the general health. He has made contributions in supporting oral health related events locally and internationally.

Subramaniam has worked to ensure the ministry's relations with the health professional groups with the goal being to improve overall health levels in Malaysia.

Subramaniam has done many events and projects over the years. One which is the National Level Blood Donation Day Celebration and Celebration Night 2017. The Minister of Health took advantage of the Health Ministry and the Malaysian government to thank the blood donors who had volunteered repeatedly for their sacrifices to assist in fulfilling the agenda of the National Blood Center. In Malaysia, blood donation is 100% voluntarily without expecting any reward. He also appreciates certain parties such as the National Armed Forces who became a strong reserve and also women who are now actively involved in blood donation activities. Based on National Blood Center data, in 2016, a total of 693,608 blood bags were received by transfusion medical services, of which 68.1% was blood donated and the rest (31.9%) were new blood donors. The Honorable also urges those who have never donated blood to participate and become blood donor replacements. The projection showed a significant increase of 30% among women who came forward to donate blood. He also recounted the Whole Malaysian Stock Exchange or "Blood Stock System" that serves to manage blood stocks and identify areas where blood stocks are scarce so stocks from other centers can be channeled to areas where there is a need.

The International Medical Device Conference 2017 was officiated by Subramaniam.[1] This conference was to provide a forum for global medical devices regulators, healthcare institutions, healthcare service providers, research institutes, conformity assessment bodies, training bodies, medical device testing laboratories and stakeholders to discuss and share experiences on regulations and quality and safety of medical device. The purpose of this Forum is to provide a platform for regulators and stakeholders of the medical device industry worldwide to meet and be updated on current affairs pertaining to the medical device industry. Subramaniam has also been involved, as one of the speakers, in dialogue sessions during the conference, addressing questions and being involved in the discussion among the speakers and industry leaders.

Subramaniam has taken the initiative to raise awareness and skills of Malaysians on healthy eating habits and thereby reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases related to nutrition. He has organized a Malaysian Healthy Plate with a "Semi-Quarter". The concept of "Quarterly Tribes" is so easy to understand, that the plate portion of a plate is filled with carbohydrate sources such as rice or bread; Quarter dishes are filled with protein sources such as fish, chicken, meat and legumes while half dishes are filled with fruit and vegetables. By practicing this concept, one can avoid obesity problems that will bring various non-infectious diseases that are increasingly contagious among Malaysians. It is hoped that all levels of society will be able to respond to the concept of the "Tribal Tribes" that the Ministry of Health has warned and practiced this concept in daily practice.

In 2008, Subramaniam was appointed Minister for Human Resources. He served as the Human Resource Minister from 18 March 2008 until 5 May 2013. In that portfolio, he has been addressing issues of unemployment, the plight of estate workers, the challenges of unskilled workers and human resource capacity-building. He said his appointment would benefit low-income groups, especially Indians.^[8] He also said issues related to Indians and employment was one of the reasons the MIC had been given the human resources portfolio in the Cabinet and he would seek solutions. He said:

The Prime Minister (Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) is hopeful that issues related to unemployment, low numbers enrolled in skills' training institutes and the plight of estate workers among the Indian community can be effectively addressed through the ministry

Notable contributions during his tenure as Minister of Human Resources was the implementation of the Minimum Wage Act as well as the increase in the retirement age from 55 to 60.

Subramaniam has been an acting president for one year from 25 June 2014 to 25 June 2015 first before officially elected until now as the ninth president of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC).^[9]

As MIC president Dr. S. Subramaniam has come up with the national blueprint for the Malaysian Indian community, initiated by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. The brainchild of Prime Minister was the first action plan for Indians covering basic needs such as education, entrepreneurship, housing, employment, documentation, trade and social development. The implementation of this plan is under the 11th Malaysia Plan in which the government gives priority to the Malaysian Indian community, and provides various programmes to cater to their needs. Subramaniam has the idea of this as it was a new initiative to start implementing development plans for the Indian community, especially a new perspective and scope for houses of worship as an effort to bring about transformation to the Indian community. Blueprint^[10] focus on four aspects to improve the living standards of the community of Indians. The blueprint especially address the problems of 40 per cent of households (B-40 category) in the next 10 years from now (2017). Those are to identify the basic problems, realizing the potential of every child, improving livelihood and wealth, and social issues. Subramaniam also create a special unit known as the Unit for the Socio-Economic Development of the Indian Community, under the Prime Minister's Department, where it is solely responsible for monitoring and implementing the plan. The special unit will be staffed by civil servants as executors to record the success of the main essence of the plan every year. Another initiative of Subramaniam and Najib Tun Razak is to set up a fund with an allocation of RM500 million to assist small entrepreneurs and improve their economic status as well as identify and register the B40 group for programmes that are suitable for them.

Blueprint seeks to engender the following outcomes for the Malaysian Indian community:

• Improved income and wealth levels, in both absolute and relative terms, particularly among the IB40
• Improved educational attainment, with no discernible inter-ethnic gaps
• An increased sense of inclusion into Malaysia's social fabric among the Malaysian Indian community

For his many contributions, Subramaniam has received many awards and accolades, among them being the following:

1. Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
2. Honorary Fellowship of the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia and Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Malaysia
3. During the 66th World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee Meeting for the Western Pacific Region in Guam, United States in 2016, Subramaniam has been appointed as Vice President of the upcoming 69th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland. The appointment which was made unanimously is indeed an astounding recognition for Malaysia's active role on the global health platform.

•   Malaysia :
  •   Officer of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (KMN) (1998)^[16]
  •   Commander of the Order of Meritorious Service (PJN) – Datuk (2007)^[16]
  •   Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) – Tan Sri (2022)
•   Malacca :
  •   Grand Commander of the Order of Malacca (DGSM) – Datuk Seri (2011)^[16][17][18]

• Dr. S.Subramaniam – Official website