The doctor who changed how Malaysia cared

The face of modern Malaysian psychiatry: Dr M Mahadevan spent six decades championing dignity, hope and rehabilitation for people living with mental illness. (Charles Thena pic)

PETALING JAYA: The first thing Dr Mahadevan Mahalingam changed was a name.

The Central Mental Hospital in Tanjung Rambutan sounded severe, clinical and distant. Mahadevan believed it needed something that reflected recovery rather than confinement.

So he renamed it Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta.

Bahagia means happy.

The choice was deliberate. He wanted patients to feel less like outcasts and more like people capable of rebuilding their lives.

The name reflected the philosophy that guided him throughout his career: treatment should be rooted not only in medicine, but also in dignity, hope and humanity.

Now, following his death on Monday in Kuala Lumpur at the age of 96, Malaysia is mourning not merely a pioneer of mental healthcare but a man who helped redefine how the nation viewed some of its most vulnerable citizens.

The boy who rode a horse to school

Long before he became the country’s best-known psychiatrist, Mahadevan was a schoolboy with an unusual passion.

He loved horses.

Growing up in Kuala Lumpur and studying at St John’s Institution, he became known as the boy who rode a horse to school.

His fascination with riding often worried his teachers, who feared it distracted him from his studies.

One Brother famously made him sit in the chapel and repeatedly write the words “make me a doctor”.

The lesson stuck.

Years later, Mahadevan credited those teachers for helping instil the discipline that would shape his life.

The same determination that drove him to master horse riding later carried him through medicine and his efforts to change public attitudes towards mental illness.

Ironically, medicine was never his first choice. He had wanted to become a veterinarian and was fascinated by animal behaviour.

A scholarship changed his path, steering him into medical studies and, eventually, a career that would transform psychiatric care in Malaysia.

After graduating in Bangalore in 1961, Mahadevan moved to Ireland and worked under Professor John Dunne at University College Dublin.

Psychiatry quickly became his passion.

A life fully lived: Dr M Mahadevan in Vienna in 1965 shortly after qualifying as a psychiatrist (left), and years later after becoming one of Malaysia’s most influential medical pioneers. (Charles Thena pics)

A defining moment came in 1965 when he witnessed a horrific road accident that killed a woman and her pregnant daughter. The husband survived but was left deeply traumatised.

Mahadevan used hypnosis to stabilise him.

The experience reinforced his belief that medicine was about more than treating physical injuries. The mind, too, required attention, especially in moments of grief, shock and despair.

The case attracted widespread attention and led to invitations to lecture in Britain on hypnosis and trauma management. His growing reputation opened doors to further study with some of the world’s leading experts.

A mysterious benefactor later funded his advanced training. He worked with renowned hypnotherapist Herbert Spiegel at Columbia University, while Harvard psychiatrist Chester Pierce recognised his promise and encouraged him to expand his work.

When Mahadevan eventually returned home, he brought with him not just qualifications, but a new vision of what psychiatric care could become.

Transforming a system

In 1967, at the invitation of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Mahadevan returned to help build Malaysia’s mental healthcare system.

At the time, fear and stigma still surrounded mental illness. Many patients were isolated from society and offered little opportunity for rehabilitation.

Mahadevan believed that approach had failed.

As director of the Central Mental Hospital in Tanjung Rambutan, he introduced ideas that were considered progressive for their time.

Patients, he argued, should not simply be confined. They should be encouraged to recover, regain confidence and return to society.

His reforms extended beyond the hospital itself.

He championed foster homes, halfway houses and daycare centres. He supported programmes that focused on rehabilitation and reintegration, helping patients remake their lives outside institutional walls.

The renaming of the hospital to Hospital Bahagia symbolised that wider transformation. It represented a shift from fear to understanding and from isolation to recovery.

By the late 1980s, Hospital Bahagia had become a model of modern psychiatric care and earned international recognition, including praise from the World Health Organisation.

When horses became therapy

Mahadevan never abandoned his first love.

His lifelong bond with horses eventually influenced his professional work. He noticed that many patients responded positively when interacting with animals, especially horses.

The effect was often striking. Patients appeared calmer, more confident and more willing to engage with others.

Mahadevan saw in those encounters an opportunity to expand rehabilitation beyond conventional treatment.

His belief in therapeutic riding helped shape initiatives such as Madhuban Home and contributed to the growth of Riding for the Disabled in Malaysia. He later served as chairman of the Malaysian Paralympic Equestrian Committee.

To some, these ideas seemed unconventional. To Mahadevan, they were simply another way of helping people rediscover confidence and purpose.

A reputation that crossed borders

Mahadevan’s influence extended far beyond Malaysia.

He founded the Malaysian Psychiatric Association, served as the government’s chief psychiatrist and became the first Malaysian president of the Asian chapter of the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine.

Harvard later established a travelling fellowship in his name, recognising his contributions to psychiatric education and research.

His interests also brought him into contact with leaders, academics and royalty.

One of his closest friendships was with Dr Mahathir Mohamad, forged through a shared passion for horse riding.

The two men joined riding expeditions together, including journeys through Argentina’s Andes Mountains.

Mahadevan also attracted the attention of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

In a Johor murder case that sparked fears of racial tension spreading across the Causeway, Mahadevan’s courtroom role helped establish that the crime was not racially motivated.

The clarification eased tensions at a sensitive time. Lee later told him: “You were the man who saved Singapore from riots.”

It was one of the many tributes paid to a man whose influence often extended beyond the consulting room.

Grace under adversity

Life tested Mahadevan in later years.

In 2009, he was brutally assaulted in a dispute linked to family land matters. The attack left him with severe spinal injuries and confined him to a wheelchair.

The horseman healer: Long before equine therapy became widely recognised, Dr M Mahadevan’s lifelong passion for horses shaped both his sporting and professional life. (Charles Thena pic)

For a lifelong horseman and polo player, the loss was profound.

Yet he faced adversity much as he had faced every other challenge — with resilience, humour and gratitude.

He rarely dwelt on misfortune. Instead, he spoke of how fortunate he had been.

“I have been very blessed,” he once said. “Life has been beautiful. I’ve no regrets.”

A lasting legacy

The true measure of Mahadevan’s contribution cannot be found in awards, fellowships or titles.

It can be found in the thousands of lives touched by his work and in the generations of healthcare professionals he inspired.

Champions together: Dr M Mahadevan (second right) with sprint legend Dr M Jegathesan (seated) during a dinner honouring Perak athletics greats in Ipoh in 2022.

He helped move Malaysia away from viewing mental illness through the lens of fear and shame. He encouraged a more humane approach built on understanding, rehabilitation and respect.

Few doctors leave behind institutions, fewer leave behind a way of thinking. Mahadevan achieved both.

For nearly six decades, he dedicated himself to helping people find their way back from darkness.

In doing so, he changed how Malaysia cared.