Mr. Kandasamy was a prominent Trade Unionist and for a period was also active in politics. He realised that if poorer Indian families believed that secondary and post-secondary education were only a pipe dream, many would opt to take their children out of school early and use them to supplement the family income, or in the case of girls, to help with family chores.
Over July and August 1966, Mr. Kandasamy and a colleague, Mr. T. Selvaganapathy, contacted other prominent Indians by telephone to explore the viability of setting up a scholarship fund “to provide financial assistance to deserving Singaporeans of Indian parentage so that they can equip themselves with the necessary skills and qualifications to participate in the industrialisation of our country”. A meeting was duly arranged among 12 positive respondents at the Singapore Indian Association on Tuesday 30th August 1966. Those present, including Mr P. Govindasamy, MP, Mr. K. R. Chandra, later Permanent Secretary, and Mr. M. Bala Subramanion, Director of Postal Services, agreed in principle to setting up the scholarship fund to be tentatively called the Indian Scholarship Trust Fund. They appointed themselves the Pro-tem Committee which would remain in office until the Trust was registered. Mr Kandasamy was elected Chairman, Mr. S. G. Advani, and a lawyer with firm of S. K. Lee, Advocate & Solicitor, the Secretary, and Mr. K. Gopalakrishnan, a teacher, the Assistant Secretary.
