Sikhi parchaar adventure in Malaysia and Singapore

An adventure in the search of a better life, when driven by personal faith and belief that one is capable, leads to a willingness to face any challenge. Personal faith is strengthened by an inner religious belief that provides the strength to one’s will and the faith that spiritual powers are supportive of the endeavor to be undertaken. Forefathers of Malaysian Sikhs left Punjab for various reasons with the common spirit to succeed economically and improve their lives. They were ready for the challenge as the Sikh spirit, boiling in their blood, carried the DNA of the sacrifices of Sikh martyrs and the positive mind of Fateh or accomplishment.

Landing, after a journey that took weeks in Malaysia, then Malaya, also known in Punjab as “kaleh pani” or black water an indication of a distance that was immeasurable. Sikhs in Malaya and Singapore supported and assisted one another and established settlements. New arrivals were able to stay in communities, received free food and shelter during the period they were seeking employment. Advice, emotional support, knowledge of local culture and language was shared to support their settling in. An informal system existed where senior persons-maintained discipline and ensured good conduct and exemplary behavior. Information received verbally from elders, shows that the new arrivals did not drink alcohol, cut their hair or trim beards. In some cases, sitting at a coffee stall was also not acceptable.

The challenges faced by our forefathers are beyond our imagination as we are all in comfortable environment. Success was achieved due to a strong spirit they possessed which resulted not only in survival but the establishment of foundations for our progress. The challenge was multifaceted, arriving in a country where the climate was different, hot humid and wet, mixing with different ethnicity, witnessing cultural differences including food, a poor health system, and a completely new and foreign language. Their success is an example of the strong entrepreneurial Sikh spirit of “Chardi Kala”.

I humbly bow before all their sacrifices and acknowledge that their contributions have allowed us to walk tall as a community of courage, honesty, dedication and economically self-reliant. Deep within these simple folks lay the love of their language, culture and religion. The brotherhood of religion as being the sons of Guru Gobind Singh bonded them socially and economically.

The desire to connect to the rich history and folk literature led to creation of centers for gathering. The learned amongst them read the classics, poems “kavita” and others kivishri. Seated under the oil lamps after a hard day of toiling in the mines, on bullock carts and hard sentry duty, the only available entertainment for relaxation was stories of Sikh valor and the Sakhis of the Guru’s blessings on devoted Sikhs. Radios, television or even electricity in these communities did not exist but hearts were lighted with the Guru’s words and they strengthened their spirit to advance forward the following day.

Slowly but surely, these gathering centers were transformed into small Gurdwaras. Made of wood with roof made of attap weaved from the leaves of the nipah plant. The ground was not concrete in many cases, just flattened and laid with a layer of lallang, a weed with long thin leaves that was abundantly available. Sitting on these, the faithful sang together in a chorus. The session was led by anyone who knew some verses from Gurbani, weaved it with Punjabi poetry and accompanied by the beat of a dhol ki and chimta. Deeply absorbed in the singing the fervor it created could be heard from a distance. Many years later, the harmonium (waja) and tabla were added.

Families grew as many returned to marry in Punjab and brought back their wives. This saw the arrival of women in Malaya from Punjab. Others had married within the local communities and they and the families remained with the community and were well accepted. The sangat (congregation) steadily grew. Large gatherings formed in many of the states in Malaya. This increase led to the building of Gurdwaras and the need for a learned “granthi” or priest. The influx of many personalities with Punjabi education to Malaya then occurred to fill the position of granthis. Small gurdwaras still relied on some learned person within the community as well as anyone who could beat the dholki in rhythm to engage the sangat in worship on Sundays.

The family atmosphere in these sangats was warm, loving and caring. Children received cuddles from elderly ladies as they showered blessing like “putt to jee da rehai baba thanu changi naukre devah” (son may you have a long life and may the Creator give you a good job) while females had the blessings of “putt to sukhi vaseh” (daughter may you have a great family life). These goodwill messages showered with love and care added to the happiness of going to the gurdwara. During those times, children and youth had no other distractions and the Sunday Gurdwara function fulfilled their desires for a change from the home and school.  Elders would then lovingly direct young to partake in sewa (service) and give them a feeling of being part of the larger family. Sewa was encouraged depending on their age and strength. Everyone was involved, the least the child did was to take the empty metal cup used for drinking tea by the elder to the place for washing.

Encouragement, acknowledgment became the driving forces that made the young feel comfortable, secure and accepted. Attending Sunday Gurdwara also provided the youngsters an opportunity to meet, mind you the boys met the boys and the girls the girls. Society values were conservative and the boys and girls could only see and admire each other from a distance, hiding and camouflaging the exchange of admiration for fear of the parents. Others who were more daring devised ways to have a conversation even if it was the normal sat sri akal. Even if there was no reply a fleeting smile was acknowledgment and the sat sri akal a defence if anybody complained.

Religion was learnt from the stories and sakhis told during the sangat sitting and hearing the gyani or granthi. As Punjabi was the home language the youngsters sitting in the laps of mothers and the youth sitting with their fathers grasped the knowledge of Sikhi. The sakhis were rendered with such devotion and emotion, after the gargadh jathas style of kirtan had been sung, that they sank into the minds of the younger generation. The emotions generated from the sacrifices of the Gurus and their great life eased the acceptance of the great values of Sikhi into the young minds of the youth. Character of honesty, spirit of dedicated service, working hard to achieve economic success were also parted to the youths.

Participation was the corner stone to involving the youth. A day before the gurdwara building was to be cleaned, wall to wall, mind you. Fire wood mainly rubber or mangrove wood had to be cut as fuel to the fires cooking the langar. All the plates, cups and utensils had to be washed usually by the males. The females engaged in cleaning the dhall by removing small stones or other impurities, the atta had to be sieved to remove worms or other bugs and also the washing of any blankets used to store the cooked roti and the washing and cutting of vegetables. The granthi had to change all the rumalas and sheets of Guru Granth Sahib and prepare the instruments for the kirtan. The joy of working together as a family, both young and old, knows no bounds.

Any Sunday function was a function of the whole community not just one individual. Sewa was done by all in preparation of simple dall roti and a chutney made with mint. The youngsters would have their eyes tearing while cutting red onions and the elderly ladies would say the tears show your mother-in-law will love you; what an encouragement. Peeling potatoes that had been boiled was an act of balancing from hand to hand and a lesson never to touch your face or eyes after cutting chilies was well learnt. The energy and joy that developed from this hands-on approach to learning to be a good Sikh has stayed with many generations.

After the langar was served and all the utensils washed and put back into the store the whole area was usually give the final clean. Despite all the happenings the energy levels of the sewadars (volunteers) increased and the would be flashing with excitement. The taste of the langar itself cannot be matched with any home cooking as it had with it the blessings of the wonderful hearts that made it with care and love. Ladies fought the smoke from the wooden fires making the rotis and men sweated cooking dhall and grinding chutney but their faces were always lighted in the spirit of sewa for the Guru.

All the excitement had another feature when the salesman from Punjab arrives with his merchandise. Mothers rushed to buy kara (bangle) for the new born or a new one for the ever-growing children. Surma was the eye decorator as well as the sight strengthener and was only available when this vendor came. Kanga both wooden with a small kirpan in it as well as that made from elephant ivory were other items. Women waited to buy the naala for their selvaar as well as prand for the hair. This was the mobile Punjabi cultural bazaar providing material from the homeland. It also educated the youngsters of the value of their rich cultural heritage.

The yesteryears of Sikh parchaar was one in which learning began at a young age through participation. Elders cared and guided the youngsters through loving motivation and nudging to strengthen their belief in themselves. The faith that had given our forefathers the economic security and acceptance as honest and caring people in the social sphere has been the foundation of generations of success. Respect and support for each other, open communication, sharing and caring have been the foundation stones of the Sikh journey of success – let us commit to it for our future generations.