Rama Subbiah was born on January 2, 1933 to Ramanathan Chettiar and Meenakshi Ammal in Vegupatti, a small village in Puthukottai district then under the British rule. Rama Subbiah is of Chettiar lineage that is associated with money lending. Some of these Chettiars or Nagarathars migrated to Malaya during the British Era. Among the Chettiars, some ventured out of the money-lending business onto jobs as accounting clerks and small businessmen. Others opted to become academicians and professionals. Rama Subbiah's father, Ramanathan Chettiar and his grandfather settled in Kuala Kangsar, the royal town in Perak in a kittangi (godown). In the earlier days, Chettiars who were traders had no permanent homes in Malaya and so stayed in the godown with their goods and when business was done they returned to India. This concept of bank and bunk' over time was carried forward as the Chettiars became money lenders. They began living in shop-houses which to date still carry the name kittangi.

By day, the premises served as an office with small desks for their ledgers. At night, these desks were moved aside and they rolled out mats or mattresses with pillows to sleep on. Rama Subbiah, on completing primary school in India, joined his father and grandfather and stayed with them in the kittangi. He cycled to Clifford School, a pioneer, premier school in Kuala Kangsar. In school, he was withdrawn with only a few friends. Though he was not active in the sports field he was an ardent Scout cub where his distinctive nature to serve was apparent. He also showed his disposition to be independent and creative. However, Rama Subbiah was more inclined to be academic and often wrote articles for the school magazines.

In the 1951 school magazine he had written an article signed "1 am a Chettiar" In the later years, he was active in the school Debating Society. As a diligent student with a flair for languages, he obtained brilliant results in his Senior Cambridge School Certificate in 1951 when Mr. D. Bennet was the principal.

He then enrolled at the Sultan Idris Teacher Training College in Tanjung Malim. He returned to Clifford school as a qualified teacher and worked there for a few years. He also attended FEC (Further Education Classes) part-time and obtained his Senior Cambridge, Higher School Certificate. In 1957, he obtained outstanding results with which he easily gained admission to enter the Faculty of Arts, University of Malaya, then located in Singapore.

Rama Subbiah faced dire financial difficulties to continue his studies in the university. His close friends chipped in to make sure his studies were not disrupted. Fortunately, having heard of Rama Subbiah's plight and his passion for the Tamil language, a movement called 'Tamil Enggal Uyir' funded him to continue his studies. This movement was led by Tamilvez Sarangapani, the founder of Tamil Murasu, the only Tamil daily in Singapore. He was then fervently promoting the Tamil language to be recognized and established as one of the languages to be studied in Universities both in Singapore and Malaya. It is noteworthy to recognise that he campaigned and succeeded in making Tamil not only a language to be studied among other languages in universities both in Singapore and Malaya but also established Tamil as one of the official languages in Singapore.

On January 15, 1959, the University in Singapore split into two autonomous universities. They were then established as National University of Singapore and the University of Malaya. As a result, Rama Subbiah, Bala and Pathma , enrolled in the Singapore University pursued and completed their degrees in the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. They were not only close friends but also shared their passion for the Tamil language. During this period, Professor Muthu Rasakannu tutored in Tamil and Mr.Mannica Baker in English. In 1967, Mr Maurice Baker became Singapore's High Commissioner to Malaysia. All those who attended their classes, including Pathma, Bala and Rama Subbiah, benefitted tremendously in honing and enriching their knowledge in the usage of the languages and understanding the cultural and social values. Even as a student Rama Subbiah showed keen interest in the Tamil Language and became very active in the Tamil Language Society. He soon became its secretary, then chairman and changed the Tamil Language Society to the Tamil Language Forum and established a Tamil journal called Tamil Oli which gave him the scope to study, expand and explore the language with his students. He also formed a Literary Circle that met every Saturday to study and evaluate locally written novels, short stories and articles.

Further, he organized organised debates, forums and discussions among the students to create awareness of the education system in Malaysia, appreciate Indian culture and tradition and to improve proficiency in the Tamil language. He himself was the Founder and Advisor and Patron of Tamil Oli which continued actively to his last day. In 1960, Rama Subbiah and his close friends Bala and Pathma obtained First Class Hons in Bachelor of Arts. Rama Subbiah was immediately recruited by University of Malaya as lecturer and tutor in the Department of Indian Studies. At this time, he was already in pursuit of his master's degree based on the usage of the Tamil language spoken by the plantation workers in South Perak. He completed his master's degree in 1963.

Dr Rama Subbiah's work was evaluated to be comparable with Jules Bloch's studies. Jules Bloch was a well- known French linguist (1880-1953) who had done extensive linguistic studies on Sanskrit and the Dravidian languages (1910) particularly in the context of their cultural and social context. Dr Rama Subbiah, as he pursued his deep interest in history and languages, sought and received sponsorship from the Asia Foundation, the Lee Foundation, the Inter-University Council for Higher Education, and the University of London Research Council, for research and further Studies.

In 1965 Rama Subbiah did further research on the Tamil Language in London School of Oriental and African Studies and obtained his PhD. He conducted a research in Lower Perak and spent some time in Teluk Anson, staying in Rubana estate in the home of R. Balakrishnan. Again his research was claimed to be highly commendable by leading linguist and scholar like Prof Kamil Zevlebil. Rama Subbiah was then made a permanent senior lecturer in the Department of Indian Studies. In 1967, he published many of his works in Tamil Oli as he dedicated himself to the preservation and promotion of the Tamil Language. He frequently wrote poems for the English publications as well. His exploration and deep understanding of the nuances of both the English and the Tamil languages, provided him the skill to effortlessly translate from Tamil to English or vice versa.

In July 1969, at the age of 35, he became the first Malaysian to be appointed Head of the Indian Studies Department, taking over from Prof Dr Xavier Thaninayagam, an expatriate from Sri Lanka. Rama Subbiah, travelled throughout Malaysia encouraging eligible students to enrol in the University to study the Tamil language.