Indian-origin radio and TV personality Bamah Balakrishnan passes away in Singapore

By NewsGram Staff Writer

Popular Indian-origin radio and TV personality Bamah Balakrishnan, whose iconic voice reverberated over radio and television sets for decades, has died following a heart attack at a Singapore hospital on Wednesday, a media report said.

MediaCorp radio station Oli 96.8FM, on which Balakrishnan hosted the popular show "Mathiya Nera Koothugalam", announced her death on its Facebook page, The Straits Times reported.

Balakrishnan died at the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

"Bamah was a true professional with a passion for the Tamil language. An evergreen radio voice who will be thoroughly missed but one that will be remembered forever," Chitra Rajaram, MediaCorp's head of community segment (Indian and Malay), was quoted as saying in a statement.

The 59-year-old, who was "very popular" amongst the Indian community in Singapore "for her jovial personality and charisma", worked with MediaCorp's Indian radio station for the past 39 years.

Proficient in English, Tamil, Malay and Telugu, she hosted and produced numerous radio programmes of human interest that have helped create awareness about issues facing the Indian community. Balakrishnan was a versatile personality, having written and acted in radio and TV dramas. She also gave talks at various public forums.

Balakrishnan is survived by a son. Her husband died more than 10 years ago.