Mahadevan Mahalingam

Mahadevan Mahalingam (September 9, 1929 - June 15, 2026) was a Malaysian doctor, widely considered by his country’s media and scientific community to be thee father of modern psychiatry in Malaysia.

During his long career, he transformed the country's mental healthcare from a system of confinement to one built on dignity, rehabilitation, and understanding.

Early life and career He was born in Kuala Lumpur on September 9, 1929. He was the sixth child and third son of civil servant Mahalingam Appukutee Mailvaganam and Mabel Ratna Ammal.

He studied at St. John's Institution.

In 1967, at the request of Malaysia's prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, he returned from Ireland to develop Malaysia's modern psychiatric infrastructure.

As its first director, he changed the name of the Central Mental Hospital in Tanjung Rambutan to Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta in order to remove social stigma and instill hope.

He served as the government's chief psychiatrist during the 1980s and was also founding president of the Malaysian Psychiatric Association.

In 2004, his biography Mad Heaven was penned by Aneeta Sundararaj.

In 2009, Mahadevan claimed that he became disabled and began using a wheelchair after a vicious attack by thugs on December 14, 2009, over a family dispute in court over four plots of land.

In January 2014, the KL High Court ordered then MIC treasurer-general V Ramanan to pay back RM5.5 million to Mahadevan. The court ruled that Ramanan had misrepresented himself by claiming he could assist Mahadevan to retrieve a RM26.6 million debt from the Defence Ministry for using the psychiatrist's land in Sungei Petani, Kedah, as a firing range between 1968 and 1988. It found that Ramanan produced a forged letter from the ministry giving the assurance that payment would be made, prompting Mahadevan to pay RM5.5 million into Ramanan's personal account on May 19, 2010.

Mahadevan died in his home at Ukay Heights from heart failure and lung infection on June 15, 2026.