GANGSTERS dubbed him "The cat with nine lives" because he kept coming back despite being shot several times.

S. Thirunavakarasu vividly recalls his uncle, the late S. Kulasingam, as a role model and a feared crime buster.

To his subordinates, he was a strict, no-nonsense policeman with "the roar of a lion".

But to those who were close to him, the late assistant commissioner S. Kulasingam was a jovial, humorous personality who loved to entertain those around him by singing old Tamil songs.

His nephew S. Thirunavakarasu remembers his uncle fondly.

"Kula mama (Uncle Kula) was my mother's younger brother and I remember him as the 'friendly uncle' who used to sing old Tamil songs aloud to entertain himself and those around him.
"Whenever he came to visit us in Seremban, he would ask me to wash his car and paid me RM1 for the service," said Thirunavakarasu, better known as Thiru, 62.

Thiru, who looked up to his uncle as a role model, also followed in the legendary crime buster's footsteps when it came to his career choice.

He served in the Singapore police in the 1960s for a brief period, before taking over the family petrol station and later joining the French Foreign Legion.

Thiru said his uncle chose to remain single for life after a failed relationship with a woman.

Kulasingam, a six-footer well known for his booming voice, survived two gunshot wounds while serving as the Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department deputy chief.

Throughout his 35-year career in the force, Kulasingam had taken down 25 secret societies, burglary and armed robbery gangs in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru, Penang, Brunei and Sarawak.

He also played a crucial role in bringing an end to Botak Chin's reign.

One other notorious criminal Kulasingam brought down was "Kepong" Chai, a serial rapist who liked to scar his victims' faces with a blade.

Kulasingam, whose name in Tamil means "lion of the community", was born on Aug 12, 1931, in Seremban. He worked as a teacher for six months after completing his studies at St Paul's Institution before joining the force in July 1951, aged 19.

He caught the attention of his superiors and rose to the rank of Assistant Superintendent within six years. He opted for early retirement in 1985, while serving as Johor CID chief.

Kulasingam suffered a fall in the bathroom of his apartment on Sept 29, 2007 and was bedridden after undergoing an operation to replace a broken hip.

He died in his sleep at 3.06am exactly two months later, aged 77, of old-age complications.