With profound grief and sadness, we mourn the loss of Sardar Amar Singh Randhawa s/o Haranam Singh Randhawa
Beloved husband to the late Charan Kaur d/o Pritam Singh
Leaving behind:
Son: Sukhdave Singh Daughter: Baljit Kaur
Sister, brother, nephews, nieces and friends.
PATH DA BHOG Gurdwara Sahib Sentul, KL Sunday, 20 April 2025 5pm to 7pm, followed by Guru ka Langgar
Baljit Kaur 019 230 5908 Gurmit Deo 016 245 3452 Dato Wira Dr Jagdev Deo 012 219 7299 Dato Amarjit Deo 012 207 6788 Gurdial Deo 017 931 0231
SARDAR AMAR SINGH, LION OF CLUB AMAN
Born in 1938, Sardar Amar Singh, who began his career at Wearne Brothers, played key roles in various charitable and sports events, including Kelab Aman and MSSSC. He served as treasurer and secretary for both the Sikh Welfare Society Malaysia and MSSSC.
A long-time figure in Malaysian hockey, he was involved in the run-up tothe 1975 World Cup. He narrowly lost the Malaysian Hockey Federation secretary election by a single vote, and even that by the casting vote awarded by the MHF president Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
As a founder member of Kelab Aman, he earned respect in club circles, with one former club president calling him the “Lion of the Club.”
In 1988, during the Commonwealth Games, Amar Singh managed the cricket grounds, known as the best oval in the country. His successful management led to an invitation to the next games in Manchester. He also played a significant role during the first SUKOM games and hosted visits from notable figures, including the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Prince Edward.
Amar Singh’s legacy lives on in the history of SUKOM KL 98, where Kelab Aman was a key venue. His contributions will be long remembered.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
The 1st of Baisakh Nanakshahi Sammat 557, which coincides with 14th of April 2025 marks two pivotal events of Sikhi – Vaisakhi of 1469 and of 1699. Vaisakhi 2025 is thus the 556th anniversary of Guru Nanak’s birth in 1469; and the 326th anniversary of the celebration in 1699, of the culmination of a 230-year journey. Vaisakhi 1699 was the celebration of spiritual completeness.
The journey of spiritual completeness began with Guru Nanak in 1469, and was contributed to by nine successive Gurus. This journey, which was celebrated in 1699, culminated in 1708 with the installation of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib representing the Shabd as our Guru and guide towards spiritual enlightenment. Spiritual completeness is defined within the Shabd as being linked completely with the messages of the complete Guru within; and being linked completely with humanity without.
FOR MORE STORIES ON GURU NANAK’S BIRTHDAY, CLICK HERE
The highlight of Vaisakhi 1469 was the advent of Guru Nanak.
The highlight of Vaisakhi 1699 was the celebration of being linked within and without. Guru Gobind Singh called out 5 Sikhs that he had selected based on their links with Guru Nanak’s Sikhi. He made sure they were each from different regions and different castes. He united them in the one-ness of humanity, erased their differences in caste and origin, gave them one identity as Khalsa through the initiation of the khande di pahul. When it was all over, he had united them with him and him with them.
The Sikh world is, lamentably, removed from the essence of both events. Vaisakhi 1469 has gotten erased from the Sikh psyche as the birthdate of Guru Nanak. And Vesakhi 1699 has become mired in unbelievable tales of the Guru beheading his own Sikhs before brining them back to life. This irony notwithstanding, the Sikh Bulletin wishes the Sikh world in general, and our readers in particular Happy Vaisakhi.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
The bicycle had only one gear connected to its back wheel, with both wheels of longer circumference, meaning they were bigger than the normal multi-gear bicycles us normal kids had at that time. It was painted black, and for a ‘Basikal Tua’ the paint job looked very new. He pedalled in a very cool like manner, slow and steady over the sandy pathway to his house, neighbouring my grandmother’s home. His smile through his bushy moustache and beard was the same every single time. Wide with pearly teeth, and genuinely sincere. We would wave back with a loud ‘Sat Sri Akal, Baba’. He would disappear into his home, and we continued with our mischief running around the village.
Tronoh Mines in the late 80s was a sleepy, small tin-mining town in Kinta District, Perak. The wooden houses peppered between lush tropical greenery and century old trees. Predominantly homes of Punjabi families of men who worked in the tin mines decades before, everyone knew each other. Most families owned a cowshed nearby, housing tens of cows, if not more. Fresh cow’s milk was abundant those days.
Eassar Baba probably would’ve been nearing 70 years of age at that time. Like his Basikal Tua, his beard was jet black without any hint of grey. He was taller than the typical adult Punjabi of today. He was skinny, but his posture suggests otherwise, always upright without much of a hunch. Whenever I ventured into his home, while galivanting around the village, he would give me the customary hug. He would say only a few words, chesty and a little laboured. His words were always kind. You can sense he was alert and possessed an excellent memory.
This 40-odd year old memory of him came to me yesterday as I was exercising to strengthen my back. You see, I have taken my health for granted most of my life. My better half had a nasty fall and ruptured her knee requiring surgery. Her slow recovery made us think quite hard about how damaging falls like this are at our age. The realization dawned upon me on the importance of building certain muscles that would be useful to remain mobile in the twilight years of my life, minimizing risks of falling.
The memory of Eassar Baba was an image of him on his bicycle, upright and steady, coming home in the evening after tending to the cows. He would bend down and squat to cutting grass for the cows for half an hour or more, carry bundles of lalang grass to feed the cows. He would walk steadily at that age, mobile and alert, smiling. The smile wasn’t the curtain that hid unhappiness. There was nothing hidden. He was content with life and at peace with it.
I shared this memory with my father, out of the blue yesterday, and we both marvelled at the simplicity of his life. I’m told that my own Babaji, my paternal grandfather, led an identical life as Eassar, along with many more men in Tronoh Mines. Their meals were simple roti and dhall. They enjoyed their cup of cha in the evening after returning from the cowshed. They were up at 4am and retired for the day at 9pm. They communed at the small Gurudwara they built together, the Granthi being one of them. They led quiet, peaceful and mundane lives from the days of Japanese occupation, Independence from the British, through the Communist insurgency, the formation of Malaysia to the industrialization in the 80s.
This lifestyle stands in stark contrast to my life today. I think it’s almost nigh impossible to replicate everything that men of that generation practised. We are far more sedentary today, far away from getting our hands dirty grounding ourselves on bare soil and further away from nature. Many of us are stressed with work and the furious pace of living in a city that never sleeps. I’m sure I share the same worries these fathers had bringing up families with children to feed and nurture. But that’s about the only similarity I have with them. They did so much more with so little.
Their health was their wealth. I’m nowhere near the age of Eassar Baba in my remembering of him, but I’m now very keen on attaining what these men had. Physically healthy, mobile, and alert, until the near end of their lives. Mentally healthy, with nothing to be stressed about but faithful that life will be fine anyway, finally contented and at peace, and smiling the sincerest of smiles with no need to hide any unhappiness.
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.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
Parents: Late Sardar Shingar Singh & Late Sardarni Manjit Kaur Parents-in-Law: Late Sardar Harnam Singh & Late Sardarni Satwant Kaur
18.10.1956 – 11.4.2025
Age: 69
(Formerly of the Royal Malaysian Air Force and AM Modular Sdn Bhd)
With profound grief and sadness, we announce the passing of Sharan-Jit Singh, beloved husband of Harpindergeet Kaur Randhawa (Rani) and devoted father of the late Aranjit Singh.
He will be deeply missed and forever remembered by his brothers, cousins, aunts & uncles, sisters-in-law & brothers-in-law, nephews & nieces, relatives, and countless friends.
LAST RITES 12 April 2025, Saturday | 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM Venue: Shamshan Bhoomi Hall (Loke Yew Crematorium) Address: 295 Jalan Loke Yew, Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. Directions: Use Waze for navigation to the venue.
PATH DA BHOG 27 April 2025, Sunday | 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM Venue: Gurdwara Sahib Sentul KL
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
Sunil Shukvir Singh (2nd from left) and the 10-member team from United Sikhs Malaysia leaving KLIA for Myanmar to provide humanitarian aid to March 28, 2025, earthquake victims. They are now based at Mandalay – Photo: United Sikhs Malaysia Facebook
By Asia Samachar | Myanmar |
United Sikhs Malaysia has deployed a 10-member team to Mandalay, Myanmar to provide humanitarian aid to victims of a massive earthquake that devastated vast areas.
The Kuala Lumpur-based team, led by its president Sunil Shukvir Singh, has set up base camp at a local gurdwara (Sikh place of congregation).
The epicenter of the 7.7-magnitude quake on March 28 was near Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city.
After reaching Yangon, they departed from Gurdwara Sahib Yagoon to Mandalay with more than 900 kg of vital relief supplies.
“This mission is more than just a delivery of aid — it is a journey of compassion, humanity, and solidarity. As we travel toward ground zero, our hearts remain focused on the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Myanmar.
“The affected communities are in urgent need of food, clean water, medical supplies, and shelter. Families are struggling to survive amidst the aftermath. The road to recovery will be long, but with your support, we can begin the process of rebuilding lives and restoring dignity,” the team said in a social media update.
The team is now busy cutting tarpaulins into 20-foot and 30-foot sections as they had noticed many people were seen sleeping under the open sky without any shelter or mosquito netting.
After picking up relief supplies, the United Sikhs Malaysia team departed from Gurdwara Sahib Yagoon to Mandalay – Photo: United Sikhs Malaysia Facebook
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
President Harry Truman singing the Luce–Cellar Act of 1946 on July 2, 1946, witnessed by J J Singh (3rd from right) – Photo: Truman Library
By Tarlochan Singh | Opinion |
It is well known that people from India started migrating to North America from 1890 onwards. The Sikh farmers first came to Canada to work in the saw mills and later on migrated to California USA. Centuries old Gurdwaras are still places of attraction for our youth. I have gone through the official records and have found that citizenship of America was granted to Indians for the first time through an Act of Parliament in 1946. It is recorded that this was achieved through a sustained campaign led by J J Singh who was then the President of Indian League of America.
In August 2020, the media published headline stories mentioning that Sabrina Singh had become the first ever Indian-American as Press Secretary to the Vice Presidential nominee of a major political party. She was picked up by Kamala Harris who was elected as Vice President of the US. She was earlier the spokeswoman of two Democratic Presidential candidates. The media followed her and discovered that Sabrina Singh was the granddaughter of J J Singh who had been the President of Indian League of America in New York when India was fighting for independence. She tweeted that her grandfather mounted a campaign in 1940 against the racially discriminatory policies of the US and fought for Indians to obtain citizenship of America.
Jag Jit Singh (JJ Singh) was born in a Sikh family on October 5, 1897 in Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan). His father was a Judicial Officer. He studied in U.K. and migrated to the US. He opened a fabric store in New York and started importing textiles from India.
In 1941 he was elected President of the India League for America, a New York based organization that spoke for India and Indians living in the United States. At that time there were about 4000 Indians in the USA but they did not have citizenship rights. J J Singh along with S. Anup Singh and Mubarak Ali Khan lobbied in Washington corridors of power and met Senators and led a sustained campaign with the support of leading Americans which resulted in the passage of the Luce–Cellar Act of 1946.
This law granted for the first time citizenship rights to these 4,000 Indians living there and established a quota of 100 Indians immigrants every year. The Act was signed by President Harry Truman on July 2, 1946 and after signing the Act, he gifted the pen with which he had affixed his signature to JJ Singh who was standing with him in the White House. Interestingly, that pen is now with Sabrina Singh, who has been Deputy Press Secretary to President Joe Biden.
Another landmark of J J Singh to help India was reported in The New York Times on Feb 28, 1944, United Nations Relief & Rehabilitation Administration in a meeting in Atlantic City, decided to provide help to the millions of people who were starving due to the Second World War. Burmese refugees were included but not the Indians. J.J Singh went to Washington to lobby and organized a campaign to get an amendment to feed the hungry Indians alongside. Finally the foreign relations committee of the Senate approved the Amended Bill. The singular efforts of JJ Singh brought huge relief to millions of people in India.
He remained bachelor to fully devote his time and energy for the cause of India. Finally, at the age of 54, in October 1951 he married to Malti Saksena, daughter of Sh. R.R. Saksena, High Commissioner for India to Canada and former Consul General in New York. The couple had two sons who were born in the US.
In 1959, JJ Singh decided to move back to India to raise his children in his home country. It was reported that his farewell lunch before departure was quite a gathering which included the Supreme Court Justice, W-O-Douglas, Vice President Richard Nixon and the New York Mayor R. F. Wagner. The New York Times reported on Jan 18, 1959: “U.S. Loses ‘Envoy’ to the call of India.” There was also an editorial on him in the paper. The Mayor of New York hosted a lunch for him. M.C. Chagla, the then Ambassador of India in USA, called JJ Singh “a great unofficial Ambassador of India to that country”. He further added that future Ambassadors from India would miss JJ Singh’s advice about American politics and culture. The Times named him “The life and soul of Indian League”.
Back in India, J.J. Singh settled in Delhi and enjoyed an active social life. He remained an avid supporter of the civil rights and social justice movements. He fully supported Jayaprakash Narayan campaign to save democracy.
He died in 1976 in Delhi. Later, both his sons Man Mohan Singh and Manjit Singh migrated to the US.
It is astonishing that such an illustrious person who earned so much goodwill for India in the US and generated a great deal of support from the American media for cause of the country and Indian immigrants was totally ignored by the Government of Independent India. This is in stark contrast to the recognition accorded to Krishna Menon, by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who was also credited fighting for India’s cause in London. It is high time that at least the historic role that JJ Singh played for India is properly recognized and displayed in India’s Diplomatic Centres in USA.
Tarlochan Singh is a former Indian MP and chairman of the National Commission for Minorities from 2003 to 2006.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. When you leave a comment at the bottom of this article, it takes time to appear as it is moderated by human being. Unless it is offensive or libelous, it should appear. You can also comment at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
Ajay Sharma to take over as British High Commissioner to Malaysia
By Asia Samachar | Malaysia |
Ajay Sharma, who had stints in Iran, Qatar and Turkey, has been appointed British High Commissioner to Malaysia, taking over from Ailsa Terry.
This is his fourth head of mission role, according to a statement by the high commission today.
Ajay was the UK Chargé d’affaires to Iran from 2013 to 2015, the British Ambassador to Qatar from 2015 to 2020 and Chargé d’affaires to Turkey from 2022 to 2023. Ajay has also served in Moscow and in Paris as the Deputy Ambassador to France.
Prior to taking up this role, Ajay was a Director International Affairs in the National Security Secretariat of the Cabinet Office and a Director in the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office.
During his 30-year career as a diplomat, Ajay has been involved in several international negotiations, including as the UK Representative for a Cyprus Settlement from 2021 to 2022 and as the Deputy Negotiator for the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA).
Born in London, Ajay is a graduate of Oxford University. He is fluent in French and Turkish, and is currently learning Bahasa Melayu, according to the statement.
Ajay is set to arrive in Malaysia with his family in the next few weeks to commence his appointment. David Wallace remains the Acting High Commissioner until Ajay arrives.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
SARBAN SINGH S/O LATE SAHAIL SINGH AND LATE KARTAR KAUR
02.05.1943 – 08.04.2025
A loving husband, father, brother, grandfather and great grandfather. An army man of honour and dedication who never strayed away from duty both for country and family. He was our protector, our storyteller, our biggest supporter. His warm smile, hearty laugh, and steady presence will be missed beyond measure. We salute you, for your service, your love, and the remarkable life you lived.
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
