Charan Singh has served in the police force for over 30 years since 1965. – Photo: Family
By THE STAR | MALAYSIA |
August is a month of independence for Malaysia and it is usually celebrated with great applause.
Despite the excitement of the country’s independence celebrations, some of the country’s soldiers still remember the events of the colonial period and went through bitter moments of communist threat.
Khushwant Singh or affectionately called Khushwant shared his father’s experience as a member of a forest police team when contacted by mStar.
Khuswant’s father Charan Singh began serving in the Police Field Force (PFF) in Ulu Kinta from 1965 to 1987. [Corrected].
“My dad has actually been a forest police officer since he was 17 and he really loves the country. Every year in August, he must raise the Malaysian flag and pay homage to the flag as he and his team move like a family struggling to save the country.
“He told stories in the communist era that he saw his own friends being shot and killed by communist terrorists in the eyes.
“When they were in the woods, they had to starve and eat fruit, sometimes eating rice only with soy sauce,” he said, who now lives in Shah Alam, Selangor.
Charan Singh and his army moved as a family fought to save the country. Being a soldier was not easy for Charan Singh, but his loyalty to the country made him willing to risk his life for the sake of Malaysia’s security. For a cohort of police officers serving more than 30 years in this security force, Malaysia is everything and for him this is ‘the land of my blood’.
Khushwant is proud of the sacrifice of his father who is willing to risk his life in keeping the country safe.
Khushwant, 45, also said his 73-year-old father had served the Malaysia-Thailand border and had been involved in the marine police for a year since 1988 before joining the Kuala Lumpur Contingent Police Headquarters in 1990 until retiring in 1995.
In fact, while his father was a forest police officer, Khushwant’s family had the opportunity to live with others in the barracks of the Police Field Force (PPH), Ulu Kinta, Perak and Alor Setar, Kedah.
For Khushwant, the neighborhood in the barracks is so harmonious that they always help each other despite their differences.
Charan Singh, who used to be a forest police officer, will always be respectful by the 31st of August.
“When we were little, we rarely saw dad at home because he left for work in the middle of the night and he spent three to four months on duty.
“In the barracks, we live in various races and the neighbours always help my mother when she needs help because my dad is always in the woods.
“But looking at the various racial issues that occurred in the last two or three months, my father expresses his sadness because we used to live in barracks like a family of different races,” he said, the second of three siblings.
Read full story, ‘Tested for stage 4 cancer, this Singh police pensioner never failed to salute the Jalur Gemilang, “To this day when you hear my country, dad will wake up”’ (MStar, 28 Aug 2019), 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 |
Amirul (insert) assisted accident victims in Malaysia’s North South Highway – Photo: Asia Samachar
By Anandleen Kaur | OPINION | MALAYSIA |
As our car went out of control and started spinning, it was a surreal feeling. “Is this really happening?” I asked myself. I could see our car crashing into a grass-covered ditch on the shoulder of the north-south highway.
All around me were shattered glass from the windscreen and rambutan my dad bought in Kluang just before we entered the highway.
As the car landed in the ditch, I stretched sidewards to check on my six-year-old brother. I then turned to the back to check on my elder sister. My brother seemed fine but my sister was in pain.
As we alighted from the car my brother began crying, the accident must have sunk in. I too was shaken but I knew I had to help him calm down as my parents attended to my sister.
In this moment of chaos and distress, a passing car stops. A Malay gentlemen walks towards us to check if we needed help. Instinctively, he calls the highway patrol number to report the accident. He advised my parents to secure our valuables and anything important
Then looking at my distraught brother sitting on the grass in the scorching heat, he invited us to sit in his car. I sat there with my brother in my laps, trying to calm both our nerves. Outside, I could see my dad on his phone and my mum attending to my sister. Cars were passing us in full speed.
We later got to know the good samaritan was Encik Amirul, an engineer with a major construction company. “Everything will be fine. Don’t worry,” he told us. He then passed a small teddy to my brother. “Meet Bear Bear,” he introduced the teddy to my brother.
Amirul was on his way to pick up a family member and I think he was already late. Still, he waited patiently, allowing us to sit in his car as long as we wanted. He didn’t at all make it look like he had to rush off.
When he heard that my sister was injured, he picked up his phone once again, this time requesting for an ambulance.
Shortly later, he gets a call from someone inquiring where he was. “There was an accident on the highway and a family needs help,” he said.
My dad then approached the car and spoke to Amirul. He thanked Amirul for his help and patience. He was still willing to wait, allowing us to sit in the comfort of his car. He only left close to an hour later just as the ambulance arrived.
I didn’t thank him then. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank him now for all his support and his supreme patience. Terima kasih, Encik Amirul.
P.S: The seat-belts kept us in place. People, do buckle up.
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 |
SASKAAR / CREMATION: Last respects can be given at No. 18, Jalan SS14, 47500 Subang Jaya on the morning of September 3, 2019. Cortege leaves residence thereafter at 1pm for cremation at Nirvana Memorial Park Shah Alam at 2pm.|Malaysia
Fondly remembered by nephews, nieces, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, relatives and friends.
Last respects can be given at No. 18, Jalan SS14, 47500 Subang Jaya on the morning of September 3, 2019. Cortege leaves residence thereafter at 1pm for cremation at Nirvana Memorial Park Shah Alam at 2pm.
Akhand Path will be held at Gurdwara Sahib Subang from Thursday, 5th September and the Path Da Bhog will be on September 7, 2019 at 8.30am, followed by Guru Ka Langgar.
[ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Asia. How to reach us: Facebook message or WhatsApp +6017-335-1399. Our email: editor@asiasamachar.com. For obituary announcements, click here]
Most Panjaabi people will call this animal murgaa. Murgaa is not a Panjaabi word. The actual word for this animal in Panjaabi is kukkad (ਕੁੱਕੜ).
The origin of the word murgaa is Persian (morg). It is said that the word morg came into the Panjaab region during the invasion of various Afghan tribal forces.
The word morg later entered into the Urdu language but changed slightly to become murg.
The word murg came to be used by Panjaabi (commonly spelt Punjabi) people as Urdu culinary terms began to spread and used widely. Murg metamorphosised into murgaa.
A point to note is that even in Pakistan part of the Panjaab today, there are efforts to restore usage of existing Panjaabi words instead of using foreign words for the same object.
If one were to listen to Panjaabi folk songs, one can hear the word kukkad in the lyrics of many songs. For example, ‘cittaa kukkad banerei tei’ and ‘kukdi olei ni‘.
Kukkad khaao par kukkad na banio.
Jaspal Singh, a former journalist, is an Ipoh-based plain English copy-editor, proofreader and webproofer. In his spare time, he loves to study the Panjaabi language.
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 |
When seeds of distrust are sown by traumatic events like mass killings or massive use of military force in peacetime to suppress the people or popular movements, it is then not possible to erase the memory of such events. Demands for semi or full autonomy grow with suppression.
There is a very serious question before Indian politicians today which also has a global dimension: What is common between Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam and some other areas? Answer: All these regions have liberation movements ranging from those demanding greater autonomy to complete secession from the Indian Union.
Let us take the case of the Sikhs of Punjab which gives an idea of the extent to which the Indian system of government has failed since independence despite the safeguards in the Indian Constitution. In 1947, the Sikhs of Punjab, led by Master Tara Singh were the most patriotic and loyal supporters of one united India. They were against the division of the Indian sub-continent. Soon, when promises given to them regarding partial autonomy and a Panjabi language state like other language-based states were ignored, they were left with no option but to protest and agitate. The language issue was given a communal and even a religious twist and politically exploited.
There was a further division of Punjab followed by a chain of events which continue to the present day. Sikh grievances grew over the decades: the Anandpur Sahib Resolution (1976), the traumatic events of 1984 and the years that followed leading to a demand for a referendum in 2020 for full autonomy. (Its viability, legality or even alleged lack of popular support are not the issues here.)
In short, a most loyal Indian community has been alienated over the decades. Without apportioning blame, this has generally to do with misguided policies in political, economic and other spheres while the power struggle between state governments and Delhi continues. It is a question of further devolution of power to states to counter the Hindutva political agenda regardless of the party in power since 1947, to make India a Hindu Rashtra and to push India towards a de facto nation state ruled from Delhi.
Let us accept that every country has the right to defend its territorial integrity and to manage own internal affairs without outside interference. However, that right also should be guided by democratic rules and minority aspirations. A country can only be held together by the free will of all the diverse peoples in the country.
Unity cannot be forced by the majority community and the army forever. Otherwise, the first sacrifice will be any claims to democratic rule and next a multiple breakdown of law and order and regional rebellions. That can mean total disintegration of the country in the medium to long term. This trend can be reversed by installing a truly federal system so that Union powers focus mainly on defence, external affairs, common currency, railways, national grid networks, communications and other jointly agreed spheres. Unity in diversity is only possible if diversity feels empowered.
Gurmukh Singh OBE, a retired UK senior civil servant, chairs the Advisory Board of The Sikh Missionary Society UK. Email: sewauk2005@yahoo.co.uk. The article first appeared at The Panjab Times, UK. See here.
* This is the opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar.
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: 15 Sept 2019 (Sunday), 10m-12pm, at Gurdwara Sahib Shah Alam; followed by Guru Ka Langgar| Malaysia
Gernam Kaur (1948-2019), Shah Alam
SARDARNI GERNAM KAUR
Sardarni Gernam Kaur d/o late Sardar Bedavar Singh, aged 71, wife of Late Sardar Dlip Singh, passed away peacefully on 2.9.2019. Forever loved and cherished by her children and loved ones.
[ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Asia. How to reach us: Facebook message or WhatsApp +6017-335-1399. Our email: editor@asiasamachar.com. For obituary announcements, click here]
[ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Asia. How to reach us: Facebook message or WhatsApp +6017-335-1399. Our email: editor@asiasamachar.com. For obituary announcements, click here]
15th Ludhiana Sikhs – Photo: National Army Museum, UK
By James Ritchie | NEW SUNDAY TRIBUNE | SARAWAK, MALAYSIA |
Before the arrival of the Sikhs, Charles Brooke built a series of wooden forts at key locations such along the Sarawak River at Kuching and Belidah, Lingga at the mouth of the Lupar River, at Skrang in Upper Batang Lupar and as far as Kanowit on the Rajang river to protect the people. The forts were manned by Brooke-friendly Dayaks who were called “Fortmen”. But they were not effective and in early 1853 the Sea Dayaks raided Fort Skrang and killed Brooke officer Alan Lee.
On February 2, 1857 the Bau gold miners launched an insurrection, taking over the Kuching fort which was manned by a few Fortmen before burning down the Astana and the town. It was Brooke’s of several thousand Iban natives who saved the day.
Two years later in June 1859, another uprising by Melanau dissidents led to the killing of Charles Fox and Henry Steel at the Kanowit fort and there was a nation-wide alert. It was during the turbulent years that the Brookes invited Dewa Singh Akhara from the Ludhiana district in Punjab who arrived with the first group of 13 Sikhs to maintain law and order in Sarawak in the 1860s.
According to Amrat Kaur in “The Sikh Community in Sarawak” (SMJ Vol. XL No. 61, December 1989), Brooke had also authorised Dewa and three others — Pooman Singh, Arjan Sigh and Naranjan Singh — to bring more Sikhs to Sarawak and together, they recruited a total of 50 others from their village.
As the Sikh population in Kuching grew, the pioneers built the first Sikh “Gurdrawa” temple in 1912 and another in Miri in 1915. A third temple was built in Bau in the early 1929s for the policemen and security personnel guarding the mines. By this time the Sikh population had grown to about 500 Sikhs in Kuching and 240 in Miri.
On December 31, 1931, the third Rajah Vyner Brooke disbanded the Sarawak Rangers and a day later on January 1, 1932 Vyner amalgamated the Sarawak Rangers and Police and named it the Sarawak Constabulary.
Major H.C. Adams from the North Borneo Armed Constabulary (Sabah) restructured the newly-formed Sarawak constabulary comprised 1,243 personnel — 539 from the Rangers and 704 from the Police. However, the Sarawak Administrative Report (1932) states that by December 31,1932 the number of personnel was reduced to almost half with 786 officers and men including five Europeans; 394 Malays, 203 Iban, 118 Sikhs, 21 Bidayuh, 19 Melanau, 14 Indian Muslims, five Javanese, four Chinese, two Filipino and one Kayan.
In 1932, the commissioner L.N. Reynolds led an expedition against rebel chief Asun of Kanowit and his accomplice Kendawang where a Sikh jailer, believed to be the first Sikh to die in uniform, was killed. Vinson Sutlive Jr in ‘Tun Jugah of Sarawak’ said: “As he (Kendawang) was fleeing, he was grabbed by a Sikh jailer. Kendawang seized a sword and decapitated him.
“He refused to discard the Sikh’s head…which he hid in a farm house. The police surrounded the house…he ran to the river, swam across it, climbed a hill on the opposite side.
“The police didn’t follow, so he taunted them holding the head high and challenging them to come and get it and yet there was no one brave enough to do so.”
Sikh Sarawak constabulary Sikhs in 1939
Sarawak’s first Sikh hero was Constable Kartar Singh who had saved an English couple Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Jefferson from their burning home in Miri on September 2, 1939. Kartar who had arrived from India in 1925 as a 19-year-old to join the police, received a Scroll of Honour from Rajah Vyner on October 12, 1939. A year later as the war clouds began to loom, the Colonial government sent a company of soldiers (between 80 and 150 men) from the Singapore-based 2/15th Punjab Regiment to Miri to protect the oilfields from an impending attack by Japan. In April 1941 another company was sent to Kuching to protect the 7th mile airport and fortify the Sarawak “army” of 956 Sarawak Constabulary personnel who were divided into two sections — Force “A” comprising 854 officers and men and Force “B”, 102 personnel — and renamed the smaller group the “Sarawak Rangers”.
On December 13, 1941 a Japanese bomber attacked the 850 ton cargo Lipis with 300 2/15th Punjabi soldiers and Sikh policemen in Miri. Following behind was the Brooke government’s yacht with more Sikh policemen and 100 Sarawak Rangers and volunteers.
William Chater in “Sarawak Long Ago” states: “They (soldiers from the Sarawak Rangers and the Sarawak Constabulary) left Miri on the Rajah’s yacht the Maimuna and accompanied the Lipis, which carried the oilfield’s personnel and some Punjabi troops.
“About halfway to Kuching, the ships were attacked by a Japanese seaplane. The Rangers let it have all they had — rifles and even the four-inch gun on the stern. “They succeeded in driving off the plane but it then attacked the Lipis. Here the machine-gunner on the bridge was killed. Then the Commanding officer of the Punjabi troops of Sarawak took over and was in turn killed while trying to fix the jammed machine gun.”
All six victims were buried at sea and 26 wounded, including the ship’s captain, were taken off and sent to the General Hospital. The Japanese launched a full scale attack on Kuching in the early hours of Christmas Eve on December 24, 1941 when 90 Japanese marines arrived in barges at Santubong and Sibu Laut and then used inflatable dinghies to reach the town.
At 2 pm the Japanese captured the Kuching police station manned by a few Sikh policemen and by 4.30 pm the entire town was in their hands as the Punjabi Regiment at the 7th mile was forced to retreat.
On Christmas Day the Punjabi Regiment sailed up the Sarawak River to the Indonesian border where crossed into Sangau Ledo before reaching Singkawang three days later However, the Japanese caught up with the soldiers.
In the meantime the Japanese government which had supported the Indian Independence League led by Chandra Bose found it difficult persuading the captured Sikhs from the 2/15th regiment to support the league and join the Indian army.
Sikh prisoners of war at the Batu Lintang POW camp just after their liberation during the 2nd World War
One of them was the Battalions medical officer Subedar I.M.D. Kalyan Singh Gupta with 50 men under his command at the Batu Lintang POW camp and a colleague Jemidar Gulbadshah who was approached by Colonel Tsuga of the Bau Litang POW camp in April 1943.
Despite the promise of being promoted to the rank lieutenant in the Indian army, Gupta refused and was beaten and tortured for six months; he had to sit on his knees and toes every day from 6 to 10 am and was forced to urinate in his pants and beaten if he made any slight movement.
In Miri Subedar Sucha Singh, Jamamarad Singh Wattan and Captain Sham Singh Sekhon who refused to join the Indian National Army were similarly persecuted — they were given “half rations, additional work and daily beatings.”
In January 1944 the trio were sent to Batu Lintang where Sucha was beaten into semiconsciousness in the first 10 days. They were the lucky ones because the rest of their colleagues were all subsequently executed in June 1945.
The article, ‘A community of brave souls’, was first published at New Sunday Tribune (1 Sept 2019). See 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 |
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 |
By Jagdish Singh and Amanpreet Kaur | OPINION | MALAYSIA |
Samelans, satsangs, kirtan semagams, Friday programmes (or any day programmes, tbh) has always been integral to us, as members of the Malaysian Sangat. This statement certainly holds water if you’re no longer a naujawan. If you ask a naujawan (youth), chances are he or she would tell you they’re too busy.
For far too long, naujawans are often attributed for their own absence at Gurdwaras and other Sikh spaces. Most elders would nod in agreement, and go back to trying to figure out who’s marrying who.
Privately, we all know our Sikh community no longer has the hold and effect it once had in the early years. Naujawans are not engaged with activities that empower them, promote critical thinking, and challenge the social quo. There is no avenue to involve them outside of traditional Gurdwara programming. This is especially devastating when you realise that, as Sikhs, we come from a lineage of brave revolutionaries who were intellectual, highly spirited and engaged in promoting tenets of Sikhi.
The biggest tragedy of all is when committed and enthusiastic naujawans who want to engage in meaningful work, often get shut down or denied support by elders (in positions of some authority) for merely implementing action that defers from their view. Our elders have in recent years fragmented even further, attacking one another, back and forth because of their differences; clearly having forgotten the importance of ekta (unity).
As a collective of various naujawan groups, we will no longer watch from the sidelines as bystanders. We will be pushing for more meaningful action, leading the charge for the future; to empower ourselves and the Sangat (congregation) at large.
On 17 August 2019, Malaysian naujawans took their dedication for the Sangat one step further, by gathering in Gurdwara Sahib Ampang in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the various issues plaguing naujawans and to formulate actionable solutions.
The topics discussed were based on a basic survey sent out before the meeting to naujawan groups across Peninsular Malaysia; identifying mental health, family, welfare, and fostering unity, among others, as issues that needed to be looked into.
45 naujawans from various groups (including Niketan Youth Wing, Basics of Sikhi – Southeast Asia, GurbaniNaad, and many more), as well as unaffiliated youth, attended the session. Each group pledged themselves to the development of Malaysian Sikh Naujawans, agreeing to work together to come up with action plans for the discussed issues.
As a result, several initiatives will be introduced, beginning as soon as next month. Each initiative is led by one or several youth volunteers. Tentative plans have been put in place and can be viewed in the action plan attached below.
Next year, a major priority of the collective would be to conduct outreach programmes to lesser frequented areas and localities within our country; certain agreed-upon initiatives will be incorporated within these outreach programmes.
Round 2 of discussions were also held on 24 August at Sabha House (Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia headquarter in Kuala Lumpur), with more meetings to be expected in the future.
We encourage naujawans reading this article to join initiatives that they’d like to participate and contribute in. You can drop a DM to @MalaysianSikhs on Instagram or directly contact the naujawan groups listed as signatories.
[The authors were among the Sikh youth who took part in the meetings.]
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY MALAYSIAN SIKH YOUTH ON AUGUST 2019
The Malaysian Sikh youth,
Guided by the Guru’s word as enshrined in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
1. Agree to work together on common ground for the development and progress of the Malaysian Sikh youth;
2. Agree to put the collective interests of the Malaysian Sikh youth before any personal or organisational agenda;
3. Will support endeavours and initiatives that will achieve or give effect to the goals and objectives listed in the action plan to be attached herewith.
SIGNATORIES: Akaal Camp, Babe Budha Ji Gatka Akhara, Basics of Sikhi Southeast Asia, Enkaurage, Getaway Camp, GurbaniNaad, Kaur’s Heart, Niketan, Petaling Jaya Naujawan, Seramban Youth, Sewa Squad Inc, Sikh Inside, and Sikh Naujawan Sabha 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 |
