The Most Reverend Tan Sri Dominic Aloysius Vendargon (29 August 1909 – 3 August 2005) was a Ceylon Tamil priest and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur.
Early life and family
Vendargon was born on 29 August 1909 in Naranthanai in northern Ceylon.[1][2] Vendargon and his mother moved to Malaya, where his father worked as a surveyor, in 1910.[1] Following the outbreak of World War I Vendargon, his siblings and mother returned to Ceylon.[1] After the war the family rejoined Vendargon's father in Seremban in 1919.[1] The family moved to Malacca in 1923.[1]
Vendargon was educated at St Patrick's College, Jaffna, St Paul's, Seremban, and St Francis' Institution, Malacca.[1]
Despite his father wanting Vendargon to be a doctor, Vendargon entered the St Francis Xavier Seminary in Singapore in 1925 before transferring to the College General in Penang in 1927.[1]
Career
Vendargon was ordained as a priest on 8 December 1934.[1][2] As vicar for Indians in Negri Sembilan he was responsible for the pastoral care of Roman Catholics working in the rubber plantations.[1][3] He was transferred to Sungai Petani in Kedah in 1941.[1][3] After the Japanese invasion of Malaya, all of Vendargon's books and records were destroyed by Japanese troops.[1] He spent the Japanese occupation years ministering to families in Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Trengganu.[1][3]
After the war Vendargon started teaching at the College General in 1948 before becoming vicar for Indians in Johor Bahru and the Singapore Naval Base in 1949.[1][3] He was transferred to Teluk Anson in 1950 before becoming vicar of St. Anthony's Church, Kuala Lumpur in 1951, a post he held until 1955.[1][3]
Vendargon was appointed Bishop of Kuala Lumpur on 25 February 1955.[1][2] He was ordained as a bishop on 21 August 1955.[2] He became the first Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur on 18 December 1972.[1][2] He retired on 2 July 1983.[2][3]
Vendargon was a member of the Association for the Promotion of Higher Education Malaysia, the Guild of Catholic Assisted Schools Malaysia and Malaysian Inter-Religious Association.[1] He was also the first president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism.[1][3] He was made a Panglima Setia Mahkota in June 1968.[3][4]
Vendargon died on 3 August 2005 at an old peoples home in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.[3][4] He was buried in the nave of St. John's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur.[3] The Tan Sri Dominic Vendargon Foundation was named after Vendargon.[5]
