Dato’ Thiagarajan is better known as David Arumugam, one of the founding members of legendary Malaysian band, Alleycats. The band rose to prominence in the 70s and grew in reputation with their chart-making hits right up to the 2000s.

Alleycats was unique in that it was a multi-ethnic band singing in Malay, a direction that was envisioned and steadfastly adhered to by David and his younger brother Logan. In their heyday, their broad fan base saw packed-out stadiums made up of every spectrum of Malaysian and Southeast Asian society. Alleycats’ hits have become classics that still play over the airwaves today. David sang and played percussion for the band.

David and Loga’s love for music was inherited. Their mother, a former radio announcer and Carnatic classical singer would often bring them along to her performances and the brothers’s love for music soon grew, naming their band Alleycats because the alley behind the brothers’ house in Penang was filled with strays.