ANZCA Bulletin June 2011 - Australian and New Zealand College of ...

Obituary
Dr Rajagopal Rajaratnam
1933 – 2011
Dr Rajagopal Rajaratnam hailed from
Jaffna, a major cultural and educational
centre in Sri Lanka, then known as
Ceylon. He was the eldest male child
in a family of nine children, which
bestowed on him the responsibility of
main provider after his father. It was
a responsibility he never forgot until
his last days. His father was a humble
railway stationmaster and his mother
a homemaker, but they strived hard
to educate their nine children. They
succeeded in educating all children, five
of whom attended medical school. He
was educated at St John’s College which
was a premier educational institution
for boys, and alma mater to many a
successful Sri Lankan professional from
that era. He was a good student and a
keen scout. His peers remember him
as a consummate mimic and prankster
who also had a good sense of humor –
a quality that many appreciated as it
helped to focus on the lighter side of life.
He went on to study medicine at
the University of Ceylon, Colombo. He
graduated in 1958 and spent his early
postgraduate years practising general
medicine in places considered to be
exotic locations such as Nuwara Eliya,
Kandy, Trincomalee and Jaffna. He
married Baleswary Somasunderam in
these early years as a sole practitioner,
and soon became proud father to their
first daughter.
The scope of Dr Rajaratnam’s practice
was mainly in community and rural
medicine, but he was able to secure
some hospital sessions in Jaffna where
he had his initial taste of anaesthesia.
He set up a general practice and
a small nursing home (in those days,
the nursing home was equivalent to
that of a small hospital), which had
some basic theatre facilities. He ran
this for several years with the help
of two of his brothers. His interest in
anaesthesia grew and he eventually left
this successful practice to pursue higher
qualifications in anaesthesia. As life
goes, the opportunity to travel to the UK
arose and Dr Rajaratnam grabbed it with
both hands. He worked tirelessly to gain
recognition in a foreign land – working
at King’s Lynn General Hospital,
Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry and
Doncaster Royal Infirmary. During this
time, he and Baleswary were blessed
with two more daughters. He then
obtained his Diploma in Anaesthetics
from the Royal College of Surgeons of
England in 1980 and his Fellow of the
Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal
College of Surgeons (FFARCS) in 1981,
and enjoyed a successful career as
a specialist anaesthetist.
In 1983, he moved to Hong Kong and
worked initially at Queen Elizabeth
II Hospital. He subsequently worked
at the Prince of Wales Hospital and
The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
dividing his time between clinical work
and teaching as an honorary clinical
lecturer. He worked alongside Professor
J. Andrew Thornton, who was at the
time professor and chair of anaesthesia
at the university. In a letter dated
January 6,1996, Professor Thornton
reminisced about their time in Hong
Kong and acknowledged Dr Rajaratnam
for his contribution to anaesthesia:
“Thanks to your help, intensive care
is well entrenched within anaesthesia
in Hong Kong”.
He left Hong Kong in 1987 for
Australia, venturing into a much
slower pace of life as he worked as an
anaesthetist at Port Augusta Hospital,
South Australia. The slower pace of life
was still rich with clinical experience
but due to his eldest daughter and
her family living in Melbourne, Dr
Rajaratnam and his family made the
move to Gippsland in Victoria. Dr
Rajaratnam was Director of Anaesthetics
at the Gippsland Base Hospital in Sale
from 1990 until his retirement in 2006.
He was the only resident specialist
anaesthetist in Sale for several years
and was responsible for training many
GP anaesthetists who continue to
provide anaesthetic services in much of
rural Victoria. His special interest was
intensive care and obstetric anaesthesia.
He was known as “Dr Raj” and was well
known and respected in the community.
Local residents often stopped him in
the street for a friendly chat. In 2008,
Dr Rajaratnam and Baleswary moved
to Sydney.
Dr Rajaratnam is also well known
within his own ethnic community,
particularly for his capacity to extend
a helping hand to those struggling to
establish a foundation in life. Being
trained overseas and then making
a new start in a new country is not
an easy feat, but Dr Rajaratnam was
able to do so because of his ability to
adapt. He helped many in a similar
situation to become established and
live successfully in this great land of
opportunity.
In his work, he was best known as
being laid-back and unassuming but
in times of dire emergencies, would
step up to the plate with the calm and
even-headedness of a seasoned player.
His downtime was spent passionately
enjoying cricket, following world
politics and spending quality time with
his family and friends. He was a devoted
husband, father and grandfather and
never forgot his extended family, whom
he supported in different ways as best
as he could. Sadly, he succumbed to
cancer on March 13, 2011. He passed
away peacefully whilst surrounded by
family and close friends. He was an
ardent believer in buckling down and
weathering any storm because as he
always said in his mother tongue,
Tamil: “What will be, will be”.
Dr Rajaratnam is survived by his
wife, Baleswary; his three daughters,
Sumathy, Komathy and Suhanthy; his
sons-in -law, Aynkaran Sivaratnam,
Mayooran Theivendran and Rajkumar
Rajalingam; and his grandchildren,
Ashwin Sivaratnam, Nisha Sivaratnam
and Alisha Rajalingam. He will be
missed dearly by all who knew him and
who were touched by his generosity and
loyalty. He will be fondly remembered
for his sense of humour, love for
humanity and respect for all
human beings.
Dr Amutha Samuel MBBS, FANZCA
(Appreciation is extended to Mrs
Komathy Theivendran, Dr Suhanthy
Rajalingam and Dr Selvam Thavasothy
for their help in this compilation)
ANZCA Bulletin June 2011 103