Editing Devan Nair (section)

==Early life and education==
Born on 5 August 1923 in [[Malacca]] during [[Straits Settlements|British colonial rule.]] Of [[Malayali]] ancestry, Nair was the son of a rubber plantation clerk, I. V. Karunakaran Nair of the Illathu Veettil family, who was originally from [[Thalassery]], Kerala, British India.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Devan Nair |url=https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=758964c3-cc21-4561-8e59-32d75cd7526f |access-date=6 December 2023 |website=National Library Board}}</ref>

Nair and his family emigrated to [[Singapore]] when he was ten years old and he received his primary education at Rangoon Road Primary School before enrolling into [[Victoria School]] for his secondary education where he passed his [[Senior Cambridge]] examination in 1940.<ref name="IstanaSG">{{Cite web |title=Mr Devan Nair |url=http://www.istana.gov.sg/the-president/former-presidents/mr-devan-nair |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305031410/http://www.istana.gov.sg/the-president/former-presidents/mr-devan-nair |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=8 March 2016 |website=www.istana.gov.sg}}</ref>

After the [[Second World War]], Nair became a teacher at [[St. Joseph's Institution, Singapore|St Joseph's Institution]] and later, at [[Saint Andrew's Secondary School|St Andrew's School]]. In 1949, he became General-Secretary of the [[Singapore Teachers' Union]].<ref name=IstanaSG/> His disdain for colonial rule was apparent in those days, as he changed the lyrics of "[[Rule, Britannia!]]" to anti-British ones in a school choir performance before a British guest-of-honour.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.asiaone.com/singapore/devan-nair-he-formed-and-led-ntuc|title=Devan Nair: He formed and led the NTUC|work=AsiaOne|access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref>