Dominic Aloysius Vendargon was born on August 29, 1909, in Naranthani, Sri Lanka to his
mother Gertude Vendargon. His father was based in Batu Gajah, Malaya, working as a
surveyor for the Federated Malay States which at the time was under British rule.^[1] In 1910,
when Vendargon was barely a year old, his mother moved the family to be with her husband
in Batu Gajah. However, not too many years later in 1915, amidst the outbreak of World War
1, Vendargon’s mother moved back to Sri Lanka with her 4 children.^[2] Vendargon was
enrolled in primary school at St Patrick’s College Jaffna, which was run by the Fathers of the
Oblates of Mary. It was at this time that Vendargon first began to feel the pull towards a
religious life, as he became an altar server. As the war came to an end, in 1919, Vendargon’s
family rejoined his father in Seremban, Malaya, where he attended St Paul’s Institution.^[3]In 1923 Vendargon’s family moved to Malacca and was enrolled in St Francis Institution.
Although his father had his reservations, Vendargon felt the call towards the priesthood, and with the support and encouragement of the local parish priest J.P. Francois, Vendargon’s
father allowed him to join the St Francis Xavier minor seminary in Singapore in 1925. Two
years later, in 1927, Vendargon made the transfer to College General, Penang, to complete his training, and was ordained a priest on December 8, 1934.^[4]

After his ordination he was appointed as a vicar in Negeri Sembilan for the Indian Community, reaching out to the families and workers in the surrounding rubber plantations as well. He served there for 7 years, until September of 1941 when he was assigned to Sungai Petani, Kedah.^[5] It was during his time here that World War II found its way to Malaya, disrupting all aspects of life. A few years after the war ended, Father Vendargon was posted as lecturer at College General for a brief period in 1948.^[6] In 1949, he served as a vicar for the Indian population in Johor Bahru for a time, before being assigned to the Singapore Naval Base. With the rapid growth of Catholics in the Naval Base community, Bishop Michel Olçomendy thought it necessary to form an autonomous parish for the workers and residence there, and delegated Father Vendargon to oversee the task.^[7] At the time the base for the parish was that of a small wooden building that was a former Japanese language school left over from the war, and after some minor renovations, the parish was dedicated to Our Lady Star of the Sea, and Father Vendargon began to conduct mass there, both in the English and Tamil languages.^[8]He served here until August 1950, after which he was posted to Teluk Intan (known at the time as Teluk Anson), before moving on to St Anthony’s Church in Kuala Lumpur in 1951. He served in this Church for 5 years until February 1955.^[9]

It was in 1955 that Father Vendargon was appointed by Pope Pius XII as the new Bishop of
Kuala Lumpur just as it became a Suffragan See. He was consecrated in the Cathedral of St
John on August 21, 1955.^[10] With this new title bestowed on him came much work and
responsibility as he began working towards the expansion of the Church within the country,
working towards building new churches within various townships to deal with the large
number of Catholics already present within the region. He also worked towards bringing
several religious orders to carry out their missions in the diocese, these included the
Capuchins, the Jesuits, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Carmelite nuns.^[11]

Bishop Vendargon had the opportunity to attend the Second Vatican Council in Rome from
1962 to 1965, a historic event that would see the universal Catholic Church go through a
tremendous amount of change, bringing it into a new era of worship that modern church
practices are based on today. He returned regularly to Malaysia to help implement some of
the new resolutions coming from the council, and in 1964, he was assigned to one of the
Commissions of the Vatican Council.^[12]

His hard work and efforts were not just recognised by the Church, but also by the Malaysian
government, when on June 5, 1968, he was awarded the rank of Panglima Setia Mahkota
(PSM), giving him the title of Tan Sri, by constitutional monarch of Malaysia at the time,
Yang Di-Pertuan Agung Ismail Nasiruddin. His status in the Church would also see further
elevation, in 1972, Kuala Lumpur’s status was raised from a Diocese to an Archdiocese by
the Pope Paul VI, and Bishop Vendargon’s s was elected to be the first Malaysian Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, being ordained on December 18, 1972.^[13]

Archbishop Vendargon greatly believed in the need to empower the laity to take more
initiatives in Church activities and ministerial duties and spearheaded the Lay Ministry
Training Programme for the Archdiocese in 1980.^[14] In 1981, Archbishop Vendargon
accomplished a long-held goal of bringing the Carmelite Sisters to set up a foundation in
Malaysia, starting first with three nuns having made their way from Singapore, they would
eventually succeed in obtaining land and building themselves a full monastery in Seremban,
and it was inaugurated on October 17, 1982, at the Church of St Aloysius, with Archbishop
Vendargon concelebrating the mass.^[15] In addition to the works within the Church,
Archbishop Vendargon was also involved in several social and educational efforts and
programs. He was a member of the Association for the Promotion of Higher Education
Malaysia and of the Guild of Catholic Assisted Schools Malaysia. He was also greatly
involved in interreligious dialogue and was a member of the Malaysian Inter-Religious
Association and in 1983, Archbishop Vendargon became the first President of the newlyformed Consultative Council of Interreligious bodies comprising Buddhism, Christianity,
Hinduism, and Sikhism.^[16]

In 1983, after 49 years serving the Church, Vendargon retired as Archbishop of Kuala
Lumpur on July 2 of that year, at the age of 75.^[17] Eventually settling at the Little Sister’s
for the Poor’s home for the elderly. On August 3, 2005, Archbishop Emeritus Tan Sri
Dominic Vendargon passed away, and was buried in the nave of St John’s Catedral, Kuala
Lumpur.^[18] In 2000, a few years before Vendargon’s passing, at the time Archbishop
Anthony Soter Fernandez, formed a charitable foundation focused on providing education for
the masses in a quality, affordable and holistic manner, naming it Yayasan Tan Sri Dominic
Vendargon, to honour his mentor and friend.^[19]Today Yayasan Tan Sri Dominic Vendargon
owns and operates four schools around the country, a constant reminder of the legacy and
impact that Archbishop Vendargon left behind.^[20]