COMMENT | Malaysia has lost a great soul. The late Umasundari (1929-2020) left us at 1.30pm and you and I are the poorer for it.

She was living history, the last remaining dignitary who was present when Tunku Abdul Rahman made the historic declaration of independence on Merdeka Day, Aug 31, 1957.

She was a pioneer in many fields and while some of her achievements may be forgotten, Uma never lost her passion for change.

I was very fortunate to have known her, partly because we have relatives in common and mainly because she was an avid reader of the newspapers up to and including articles I used to write for a local newspaper.

"Aunty" used to call me up full of passion and occasional indignation at what ...