By Jagdesh Singh | Opinion |
It rained in the evenings everyday that week everywhere else but Khalsa Land. Khalsa Land endured a short thunderstorm on Thursday that week but enjoyed a hot humid Annual Gurmat Parchaar Samelan from the 20th to the 26th of December this year.
This annual fixture has forged traditions for many Sikh families in Malaysia and Singapore over the many decades since the 70s. These families have had their calendars marked to attend the Annual Samelan every year.
Having attended my first Samelan in the Anderson Secondary School in Ipoh way back in 1987 as a twelve year old, I can consider myself a regular face. Before as a youth participant, now after being a father I’ve graduated into being a volunteer for the newer generation of Sikh children. You could say I know a little about these Samelans.
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With the intention to teach our children the Sikh way of life, organizers have followed the true and tested templates of these camps with minor adjustments all these years. We do question ourselves if these templates do resonate to address the needs of our youth today and of the future, especially to newcomers who have never attended one of these Samelans ever before.
This year, the Learning Module lectures were delivered through the means if electronic media – slides projected with AI generated videos enriching the story telling of our rich history. Better late than never, I say.
We also had the Social Debates sessions, creating a platform for the Miri Piri participants aged from 13 to 17 years of age to debate about topics that envelope their lives such as the impacts of Social Media on their mental health. This platform gave us organizers strong indications that the kids have strong ideas and thoughts that they would want to be vocal about. They have their own voice and it’s not what we adults think it is. We too can learn from them.
The Mighty Khalsa groups aged from 7 to 11 and the Cool Khalsa groups aged 12 years fully leveraged the beautiful outdoors that Khalsaland could offer. Hikes and trips outside the vicinity of the Samelan grounds were planned encouraging physical activities while learning about the environment.
The Nikkey Khalsa group had toddlers enjoying activities catered by their parents taking their first baby steps into their Sikh way of life. At the other end of the spectrum, we have the Samelan Apprentice for ages 18 and above, all young enterprising adults earmarked as the immediate next generation of leaders.
It’s evdent from these different group ages that Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia has always practised inclusivity, always encouraging Sikh families new to the Sikh way of life to come participate and experience it while learning about the Sikh values and principles.
It wouldn’t be a Samelan without its own drama for the year. It’s as though challenges are thrown by the powers that be to teach us the organizers about patience and humility as we impart these lessons to the youth. We had issues with water supply for our kitchen and our bathrooms in the living dorms. The Medical Bay was busy like any other year with minor injuries and kids with fever and flu.
Providing safe and comfortable dormitories for 900 odd inhabitants over the whole week while they learn in the temporary cabins treated as classrooms is no joke.
Like every other year, and I can attest to it being magical, the work of the Guru for His Paanth will continue. He has provided with abundance and will always continue to do so. The children experienced their Samelan with joy with us organizers very confident that they’ve picked up a little about the Sikh way of life.
It rained everyday everywhere else except at the Samelan.
Jagdesh Singh, a Kuala Lumpur-based executive with a US multinational company, is a father of three girls who are as opinionated as their mother
* This is the opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar.
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