Are Malaysian gurdwaras doing enough in this pandemic?

By Asia Samachar | MALAYSIA |

Are gurdwaras in Malaysia doing their part to help the needy in this hard pressed pandemic lockdown period?

The question came up when Asia Samachar ran a note from Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) urging gurdwaras to reach out to poor and needy Sikhs. That was about a month ago. Lo and behold, some of the comments on our Facebook made it sound like our gurdwaras were sitting back with no care whatsoever for the suffering all around.

“Some gurdwaras have millions in their fixed deposits,” commented one reader. “All these funds are only used to make the gurdwaras bigger, higher and wider. Once in a blue moon, yes, some help is offered somewhere.”

Another reader chipped in, saying: “Sadly some gurdwaras are running as profit or money making centres. Lots of our brothers who are migrants from India (Desi) are being treated differently.”

Yet another reader commented: “Why are the gurdwaras and committees not helping the needy? Help other races, but prioritise our people first. I am sure there are some families struggling out there and it’s our responsibility to assist them in any possible way.”

Is that really the case with the gurdwaras? Asia Samachar decided to check and see what is happening around the nation. We sent a note to MGC and spoke to gurdwara committee representatives.

This is what we found out. Things may have slowed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, but a good good number of Malaysian gurdwaras did not let their guards down. They went out to assist needy families. They provided much needed food and cash assistance even to the Panjabi foreign workers, many of whom were stranded without jobs and unable to move around. They also provided food ration to other migrant workers.

Even the smaller gurdwaras, like those in Raub, Bentong and Serendah, refused to recoil in their shell. Raub gurdwara, for example, provided cash handouts totaling some RM20,000 to Sikh families in Raub last year and this year. Some families had declined the offer.

“We are a small gurdwara with about 30 families here. The cash handout is from the gurdwara coffers,” a Raub gurdwara official told Asia Samachar.

SEE ALSO: Gurdwaras reaching out to pandemic victims

The team at Bentong, another gurdwara in the state of Pahang, managed to secure allocation from the Menteri Besar’s office to give cash handouts to Sikh families in the town during the initial lockdown last year.

“During MCO 1, we provided dry ration to some 40 homes. We also provided weekly dry ration to some foreign workers here,” said Bentong gurdwara committee president Jasvir Singh.

MCO refers to the movement control order. The first nationwide MCO was implemented on 18 March 2020 as a preventive measure by the Malaysian federal government in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

Some of the urban-based gurdwaras with a larger footprint of urban congregation members have also marshaled their resources to provide help.

The team at the Kuantan gurdwara, for example, had distributed aid to some 30 Indian foreign workers last year.

“While on distribution rounds, we found two kongsi (workers’ quarters) of Bangladesh and Indonesian workers who had run out of food,” a committee member said in a text message. Dry ration, groceries and vegetables were distributed every two to three weeks.

The Wadda Gurdwara Sahib Penang has kept its outreach programme alive since the first MCO. They have supported families with rations from Penang, Sungai Petani, Kulim, Butterworth, Bukit Mertajam, Machang Bubok and nearby areas. They served Malaysians of all races as well as migrant workers from Indian, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Rohingya. At the same time, they also worked with the Orang Asli (aborigines). The gurdwara has also been trying to cater to mental health needs of the local community.

In Subang, aside from providing dry rations, the local gurdwara has supplied laptops to more than a dozen needy families to ensure their children are not left our in their studies.

Neighbouring Petaling Jaya gurdwara provided more than 1,100 packets of ration to Malaysians and non-Malaysians to assist them with basic food necessities during the first six months after the maiden lockdown last year. The gurdwara’s welfare committee has also provided financial aid to existing aid recipients and deserving cases, including medical assistance to non-Malaysians which included a patient admitted in the University Hospital for renal failure.

In Sabah, Kota Kinabalu gurdwara and the Sabah Sikh Club (SSC) assisted needy Sikh families and frontliners during the first two lockdowns last year. Food rations were dispatched to Sikh families in Kepayan, Tuaran and Kota Kinabalu.

There are more stories to tell from around the nation. Asia Samachar will share them in the coming days.

But not all gurdwara committees are up to the mark. Some gurdawaras, including those with healthy bank balances, have been conspicuously missing in action.

“The local gurdwara in my area is not doing enough,” one official of a Klang Valley-based gurdwara told Asia Samachar. “They have enough cash reserves to help, and this is the time for them to do so. Once money gets into the gurdwara’s bank account, its tough getting it out.”

So, it looks like there are gurdwaras that need some push.

On the whole, MGC president Jagir Singh said more than 40 gurdwaras have helped needy Sikhs on a regular basis, while most other gurdwaras have provided help according to their ability.

“We must understand there are about 30 Gurdwaras in the country with less than 15 families in their area, some even three families or less such as Tumpat, Kuala Kurai and Ulu Yam Bharu. Thus, they are in no position to help,” he said.

(Asia Samachar has received reports from a number of Malaysian gurdwaras on their activities during the various Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. Among them are Ampang, Bentong, Klang, Khalsa Land KKB, Kota Kinabalu, Labuan, Lembah Jaya Ampang, Mainduab Pudu, Mentakab, Petaling Jaya, Penang Wadda Gurdwara, Pulapol Kuala Lumpur, Raub, Serendah, Shah Alam, Sungai Petani, Setia City Darbar and Subang. We will be publishing them in the coming days)