Bhagwant Singh Mann – Illustration: Suvajit Dey / The Indian Express
By Manraj Grewal Sharma | The Indian Express | Punjab |
He calls his party’s quest for power “Punjab nu Punjab banaan di ladai (The battle to regain the real Punjab),” swears by Shaheed Bhagat Singh, wears the freedom fighter’s trademark ‘basanti’ (yellow) turban and usually rallies the crowds with ‘inquilab zindabad’. Meet Bhagwant Singh Mann, 48, a former comedian who’s covered the momentous journey from being a political novice to the CM face of Aam Aadmi Party Party in less than 11 years. With the AAP set to sweep the elections in the state, Mann, who is leading in his constituency of Dhuri, is all set to be AAP’s second chief minister after Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.
The party declared him its CM face on January 19, barely a month before the elections after a phone-in poll which it claimed received 2.15 million responses with over 93 percent voting for Mann.
The two-time parliamentarian from Sangrur, who fought this assembly election from one of its segments of Dhuri, is no stranger to fandom. Born into the family of a schoolteacher at Satoj village in Sangrur, Mann had his first brush with fame at 18 when he released his maiden audio cassette while in B.Com second year at Shaheed Udham Singh Government College, Sunam. A master of social and political satire, he was soon the undisputed king of comedy in the state with long-running television shows such as Jugnu Mast Mast.
His career in comedy was at its peak when he quit it to join People’s Party of Punjab, an experiment in clean politics by Manpreet Singh Badal, a nephew of Akali patriarch and five-time chief minister Parkash S Badal, in 2011. But his first jab at elections in 2012 assembly polls from Lehragagga, a pocket borough of former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, proved to be a non-starter. When Badal merged his party with Congress before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Mann refused to go along, deciding instead to accept the invitation of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal. The rest, as they say, is history. Mann won the Sangrur LS seat by a record margin of over 2 lakh votes, slaying veteran Akali leader SS Dhindsa.
Read the full story, ‘Journey of Bhagwant Mann: From stand up comedian to Punjab’s next CM’ (The Indian Express, 10 March 2022), here.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here
Path Da Bhog : 10am, 13 March 2022 (Sunday), at Gurdwara Sahib Selayang Baru.
Acknowledgements:
We thank Waheguru for your acts of kindness and prayers of consolation. We thank you for every expression of sympathy. Please know that we are blessed by your presence, your calls and your visits.
Tribute:
“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us”
Missing you Dad.
Contact:
017-2367144 (Aaronpal)
017-4367144 (Ritchiepal)
017-2439428 (Harrypal)
012-9166786 (Jaswin)
| Entry: 10 March 2022 | Source: Family
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
Race: I grew up as a minority in Singapore. Not just a minority but a super minority. Singapore of the 1980s wasn’t the cosmopolitan city of today. It was predominantly Chinese, some Malays and a few Tamils. Sikhs were so few and far between that we didn’t even make up 0.1% of the population. Our language wasn’t one of the 4 national languages; our caricatures were not acknowledged in the national textbooks that always featured a “Su Lin”, a “Muthu” or “Ahmad” with the token “John” representing the eurasians. I didn’t look like those around me and I didn’t fit anywhere.
But from hindsight, not fitting in anywhere was instrumental to developing my personality and outlook to life. I grew up in a Singapore where my mother would order groceries in the wet market in Hokkien, my grandfather would speak to me in Malay, for most of my formative years, I interacted with people different to me – most of my friends were Chinese and every day for an hour I was thrown into Malay class with people of every shade of brown. Not fitting in meant I learnt the ability to fit anywhere, I developed a curiosity to other people, a willingness to adopt other cultures. As a minority, I learnt malleability, openness and the attributes of being personable. In many ways I know more about the cultures around me then I know my own.
I contrast this with two very real examples. On my first day at work as a legal trainee, I met a few people in my cohort that never had a meaningful conversation with someone outside their race. I pause here and stress my disbelief – someone went through 20 years of life in “multiracial” Singapore without a real conversation with another race. You could only imagine her discomfort as an adult and ironically in a profession dominated by Indians. The second example is of the Singaporean who zealously goes to study overseas to expand their horizons, only to then spend all their time overseas with fellow Singaporeans because they are unwilling to step outside their racial comfort zone.
I have never fit in but the paradox with that is that I’ve always felt at home where I was. There are 2 takeaways to this:
Growing up as a minority wasn’t the easiest (the most racist things I have heard have not come from the chavs or the bogans of the world but from Singaporeans). But on other hand, it has been a strange blessing and given me an ability to fluidly interact across different races and classes of people – a trait that is instrumental for the modern global citizen.
Whatever the criticisms of the scale and speed of Singapore’s recent migration changes, I think cosmopolitan Singapore is one of the best things to happen to this country. Diversity is the best gift of human existence – imagine how lucky we are to have commonalities (rather than our differences) reinforced everyday.
Baldev Bhinder is the Managing Director of Backstone & Gold which badges itself as Singapore’s first energy and commodities law firm. He had shared the article at his LinkedIn page.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here
Bhagwant Mann (left) and Arjin Kejriwal in a photo in a tweet by Kejriwal as early results started showing AAP’s big sweep in Punjab
By Asia Samachar | India |
Punjab may see the emergence of a new political party to run the northern Indian state, breaking long standing stranglehold by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Indian National Congress (INC).
Aam Aadmi Party, the New Delhi based political party led by Arvind Kejriwal, seems all set to break the duopoly in the state as seen from the early rounds of vote counting.
AAP is leading in a majority of seats in Punjab, with chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann leading while sitting chief minister (CM) Charanjit Singh Channi is trailing in both his seats. Other senior Congress leaders like Navjot Singh Sidhu and Speaker Rana Kanwarpal Singh are trailing in their respective constituencies, as per initial trends, reports The Indian Express.
Early trends suggest the AAP is winning over 80 seats out of the total 117 seats in Punjab, it added.
“Many congratulations to the people of Punjab for this revolution,” Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi minutes after noon (Indian time, 2.30pm Malaysia/Singapore time).
In Punjab, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not seem to have made much headway in terms of capturing seats, but it is having a field day in the other state elections that had just taken place, along with Punjab.
Early results show that BJP is set to retain power in Uttar Pradesh as well as Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here
Fancy a nature walk and learning the art of upcycling your kitchen scraps? These are among the activities planned for the Sikh Environment Day at Khalsa Land in Kuala Kubu Bharu, Selangor, this Sunday (13 March 2022).
Organised by Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM), the half-day event, which starts at 8am and ends with a free lunch, will be held at the foothills of the forest reserve camp site.
Other activities planned are Scavenger Hunt amongst the lush greenery and waterways present in Khalsa Land followed by a Sustainability Workshop conducted by the Biji-Biji initiative, a social enterprise solve that aims to solve environmental issues through a market-driven approach.
The event is held in conjunction with the 12th annual Sikh Environment Day celebration initiated by US-based EcoSikh in 2010. The event is celebrated across the six continents as a tribute to Guru Har Rai, the seventh Sikh Guru, who is remembered in the Sikh history for his deep sensitivity to nature and its preservation.
Khalsa Land, a 22-acre camp site acquired by the SNSM for RM1.7 million in 2002, is being developed in stages to cater for the Sikh community, in particular, and other groups keen to hold events at the site.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here
Who shall be the next Punjab CM? L-R: Charanjit Singh Channi, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Captain Amarinder Singh (above), Balbir Singh Rajewal and Bhagwant Singh Mann
By Prabhjot Paul Singh | Opinion |
The decisive moments are almost here. By afternoon of March 10, all will be aware of leaders and political parties that are going to steer this cash-strapped mafia-ridden State to its pristine glory in the next five years.
People or electors have already done their job. They were at 24,400 polling stations on February 20 and made choices of their respective representatives from amongst 1304 candidates. Now the ball is in the court of the Election Commission and its nominated officials who will open the electronic voting machines to decide who all 117 candidates have made it to the next Punjab Legislative Assembly.
No two elections are the same. Each battle of the ballot has its own identity, its own uniqueness. Punjab, for example, witnessed multi-corner contests in most of the constituencies as there were 12 political parties and three alliances in the run for political supremacy.
Besides the incumbent Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi of Congress, his immediate past predecessors, Capt Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal, too, were in the running. Incidentally, Parkash Singh Badal, at 94, is the oldest contestant while Balbir Singh Rajewal of Samyukat Samaj Morcha, a new entrant to Punjab political scene, has been the oldest new face in the electoral battle.
No election is without its share of controversies, accusations, and counter accusations. Though electioneering mostly remained virtual because of the Omicron pandemic, still political bigwigs, including Prime Minister Narinder Modi and his senior Cabinet colleagues, including Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, and others campaigned in Punjab. It is for the first time that the national ruling party, BJP, put up 65 candidates. Never it contested even 30 seats on its own.
This time it had two new alliance partners – Punjab Lok Congress, a breakaway group of Congress led by displaced Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, and also a breakaway group of Shiromani Akali Dal, Sanyukt Shiromani Akali Dal, led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.
The ruling Congress, though fragmented, went ahead with a Dalit, Charanjit Singh Channi, as its Chief Ministerial candidate. Charanjit Singh Channi, incidentally, had the distinction of becoming first Dalit Chief Minister of this border State. Another contender for Chief Ministerial post was the Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Incidentally, Navjot was mostly confined to his constituency Amritsar East by Bikram
Singh Majithia, a young Turk of Shiromani Akali Dal and brother-in-law of the party President, Sukhbir Singh Badal. Bikram left his own stronghold seat, Majithia, for his wife, Gunieve Kaur. Bikram had tough times during the campaign period as he was tied down by police cases and related litigations. When the votes are counted, he may not be there as his petitions for release from jail were not successful.
This election witnessed a new and strong chapter of dynastic politics.
Besides five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son, Sukhbir Singh Badal, a strong aspirant for Chief Minister ship, the family had the strongest representation in the electoral contest. Besides Majithias, the family was represented by Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, who contested from his stronghold Patti. Adesh Partap Singh Kairon is a grandson of acknowledged builder of modern Punjab, Partap Singh Kairon.
Jathedar Tota Singh, a Taksali Akali leader, and his son, Barjinder Singh alias Makhan Brar, were another father-son team in the race. They were joined by Prem Singh Chandumajra and his son Harinderpal Singh Chandumajra, also of Akali Dal.
From other parties, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann and son Eman Singh Mann are also seeking their maiden entry to Punjab Vidhan Sabha.
Rana Gurjit Singh of Congress and his son, Rana Inder Partap Singh, an Independent, too, are testing waters for a place in the State Legislature.
Then there are Bajwa brothers. Partap Singh Bajwa is Congress candidate from Qadian while his younger brother, Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa, represents BJP in adjoining Batala constituency.
Some of senior leaders, mostly of Congress, including Sunil Kumar Jakhar, Lal Singh and Brahm Mohindra, decided to pave way for their wards rather than contesting themselves. Even the Sanyukat Shiromani Akali Dal chief, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, decided not to contest. His son, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, has a tough opponent in the first woman Chief Minister of the State, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, in LehraGaga constituency.
Another prominent candidate and the first woman President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Bibi Jagir Kaur, faces a tough contest from Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who after representing AAP in the last Vidhan Sabha, is back in Congress.
The fate and political future of all these political stalwarts and their wards will be known by noon of March 10.
The future of several new entrants, especially those from civil services and the world of music and entertainment, will also be revealed by the March 10 results. Many senior police functionaries, including Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, who resigned from Indian Police Service (IPS) as an Inspector-General of Police, to join AAP, Iqbal Singh Lalpura who joined BJP after retiring as an Inspector-General, Harbhajan Singh Sandhu who quit as Assistant Inspector-General of Police to oppose Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi in Chamkaur Sahib besides few others are trying their luck in politics.
Similarly, some ex-civil servants, including Dr Jagmohan Singh Raju (BJP-Amritsar East), Sucha Ram Ladhar (BJP- Gill), Kuldip Singh Vaid (Gill-Congress) and BS Dhaliwal (BJP-Phagwara) will also have their political future known on March 10.
Singer Sidhu Moosewala of Congress is another candidate whose result is keenly awaited.
Then there are two Olympians in a face-to-face contest. Pargat Singh seeking his third term from Jalandhar Cantonment has locked horns with Olympian Surinder Singh Sodhi and ex-Tehsildar Jagbir Singh Brar in a triangular contest.
Also looking for his maiden entry to Punjab Vidhan Sabha is Olympian Sajjan Singh Cheema from Sultanpur Lodhi on AAP ticket.
While Congress is hopeful of its second successive term, it faces a tough challenge from Aam Aadmi Party that has projected comedian and sitting MP, Bhagwant Mann, as its Chief Ministerial candidate. AAP was the main Opposition party in the outgoing Vidhan Sabha.
Equally strong challenge is posed by the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (SAD-BSP) alliance. Then there is a coalition of two parties of farmers – Samyukat Samaj Morcha and Samyukat Kisan Morcha. This alliance is led by veteran Kisan leader Balbir Singh Rajewal.
Prabhjot Singh is a veteran journalist with over three decades of experience covering a wide spectrum of subjects and stories. He has covered Punjab and Sikh affairs for more than three decades besides covering seven Olympics and several major sporting events and hosting TV shows. For more in-depth analysis please visit probingeye.com or follow him on Twitter.com/probingeye
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here
Sharanjit Leyl on BBC assignment at Christchurch Botanic Gardens in 2020 – Photo: Personal Facebook page
By Cheryl Lai-Lim | Tatler | Britain |
She was always a picture of poise and confidence as a producer and presenter of the BBC World News covering business, finance and politics, but “as a child, I was incredibly shy”, recalls Sharanjit Leyl. “In fact, in my first report card when I was in primary one at Henry Park Primary School, the teacher wrote, ‘She’s too shy and whispers to the teachers.’”
Leyl spent most of her childhood “working hard to try and defy this notion of shyness”, but it was not until her teenage years, when her family moved to Washington DC for her late father’s job as a diplomat, that the need to find her voice was amplified.
“I had to speak to all these people who had no concept of where I’m from, or what my background is, so suddenly having a voice—and especially one that represents the part of the world where you’re from—became very important,” she explains. “It was very difficult, but eventually I began to gain confidence when I learned that people are in fact interested to hear what you have to say.”
And she has never looked back since, finding the same confidence in front of the camera as she embarked on a broadcasting career.
“I realised it’s not about me as a person,” she says decisively. “I’ve had to cover horrifying breaking news stories, from the Sri Lankan Easter Sunday bombings to the Christchurch shootings in 2019. You just kind of … swallow whatever concerns you have about your own safety and fears because, fundamentally, you have a responsibility to focus on telling the truth about what’s happening. It’s about ensuring, to the best of your ability, that people’s stories and pain are conveyed to the world with empathy while updating viewers with the latest news updates.”
Sharanjit Leyl wears the Kelly Baguettes double row ring and the Kelly Baguettes triple row bracelet from Hermès – Photo: Tatler
Leyl left BBC in mid-2021, after an 18-year career with the broadcaster, to pursue new interests. Her journalistic fervour, however, remains intact. While she continues to moderate high-level panels for the United Nations, multilateral development banks and corporate companies, she is also using her voice to speak out about—and take a firm stance on—topics that are close to her heart, including diversity and gender equality, as well as sustainability.
“I champion these causes and, for the longest time, I had to be impartial and could never take a side due to the nature of my job,” she explains. “It’s kind of a liberation to talk freely about the things that you are passionate about and can take sides on. Obviously, I am taking the side that everyone should be equal and treated equally.”
Leyl is doing her part for positive change, starting first with the causes she is passionate about. She currently sits on the board of non-profit theatre company The Necessary Stage, a role she took on because of “resident playwright Haresh Sharma’s commitment to tackle important topics like mental health in his work”. She is also part of a mentoring programme by BoardAgender, an initiative of the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations dedicated to advancing more women in senior leadership roles and boardrooms in Singapore.
Read the full story, ‘Sharanjit Leyl on Building a World That’s Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive’ (The tatler, 4 March 2022), here.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here
Husband: Late Karam Singh Deeply missed and forever cherished by loved ones.
Saskaar/Cremation: Funeral took place on 4th March 2022 at Jalan Loke Yew Crematorium, Kuala Lumpur.
Path da Bhog: 12 March 2022 (Saturday), from 10.00 a.m. to 12 noon, at Gurdwara Sahib Lembah Jaya, Ampang, Selangor.
Contact:
+60123536961 (Surender Kaur)
+60123270541 (Sukhvir Kaur @ Suki)
+60125808230 (Amardeep Singh)
The family expresses sincere appreciation and heartfelt thanks to relatives and friends for their condolences, prayers, and support during their recent bereavement.
| Entry: 8 March 2022 | Source: Family
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
Police officer-turned-lecturer Dr Paramjit Singh has been appointed as a deputy dean at research intensive Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
Paramjit, an associate professor and a lecturer at the Social Work Programme, is now deputy dean for research, innovation and industry-community engagement at USM’s School of Social Sciences.
He was a Visiting Ph.D Scholar at Wayne State University in Michigan, United States, in 2014.
His research interests focus on HIV and AIDS, drug addiction, harm reduction, criminal justice, mental health, and social work with families.
Prior to joining the university, he was an inspector in the Crime Investigation Department of the Royal Malaysian Police.
“My parents and my wife have been the pillar of support in my career,” he told Asia Samachar.
Dr Paramjit hails from Taiping, Perak, where his father Jamir Singh Jagil Singh worked as a lorry driver while his mother Lim Siew Choo was a housewife.
His wife, Ooi Min Ming, is a medical doctor based at Hospital Seberang Jaya in Penang. They have a 4-month-old daughter Hayley Eliora Kaur.
His father, who passed away a few years ago, was a transport lorry driver. “He worked hard, day and night, to put money on the table for the family,” he said.
How did he move from the police force to the world of academia?
While serving in the police force, he was offered the ‘Academic Staff Training Scheme (ASTS)’ scholarship by USM and Ministry of Higher Education to pursue Master and PhD.
After completing the PhD in November 2015, he joined USM as a senior lecturer. He was promoted to Associate Professor in May 2021.
Dr Paramjit was recently appointed by the Minister of Prime Minister’s Department to serve as an advisor to the Magistrate Court providing recommendations related to the sentencing and welfare of juvenile offenders.
He was also appointed by the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development to serve as a chairman of ‘Pasukan Kebajikan Kanak-Kanak’ in the state of Penang.
Dr Paramjit has spoken on many occasions to raise the awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS and drug addiction in Malaysia.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here
LATE SARDAR PREMA SINGH RIAR S/O LATE SARDAR GURDIT SINGH RIAR
(1960-2021)
Forever remembered & dearly missed
Please join us for Kirtan Darbar & Path Da Bhog on 13th March 2022 (Sunday), from 9.30am – 11.30am at Gurdwara Sahib Johor Bahru. Guru Ka Langgar will be served thereafter.
Please treat this as a personal invitation.
Contact : Suneeljit Singh 018-7001655
| Entry: 8 March 2022 | Source: Family
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |
