Sikhism in Malaysia

Early Sikh pioneers

Despite the popular belief that Sikhs were brought to the then Malaya as police and soldiers, historically it is proven that Sikhs were actually sent to Malaya as political prisoners. The first few Sikhs to set foot in Malaya were Nihal Singh (better known as Bhai Maharaj Singh) and Kharak Singh,[2] who were thrown out of India due to anti-British involvement somewhere around 1800. These prisoners were sent to the Outram Road prison in what is now Singapore. In 1865, it is believed that the process of migration of Sikhs to Malaysia started again but this time involved recruitment in the armed forces in the British Empire mainly as police, military and guards.

Sikh Community and migration

Regular Sikh migration to Malaya(Malaysia) started here in 1873. The Sikh community is the largest here among Southeast and East Asia. The earliest Sikhs settlers were Policemen. The first Sikh Gurdwara was set up in Cornwallis in 1873 inside police Lines. The first public Sikh Gurdwara was set up in 1903 in Penang. Sikhs occupied top positions in Military and Police during the British rule of Malaysia. There are as many as 15 Sikh Gurdwaras in Kuala Lumpur alone more than the number of mosques there, despite Muslims being the dominant demographic in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian Sikhs are deep-rooted in Sikh culture more than Sikh diaspora anywhere in the world and are assimilated in mainstream keeping their identity intact.[3] A group of Sikh businessmen in Malaysia has set up a network of International Sikh Entrepreneurs (NISE) to promote their products and services and generate opportunities among members.

Gurdwaras in Malaysia

There are a total of 119 gurdwaras throughout Malaysia. 42 of them are situated in the state of Perak, where the majority of Sikhs in Malaysia resides.

  • Gurdwara by state/federal territory
  • Johor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Muar, Johor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Batu Pahat, Johor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Segamat, Johor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Babe ke Guru Ram Das World, Machap, Johor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kluang, Johor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Pontian, Johor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Johor Bahru, Johor
  • Kuala Lumpur
    • Gurdwara Sahib Dharamsala, Kuala Lumpur
    • Wadda Gurdwara Sahib Jalan Kampung, Kuala Lumpur
    • Gurdwara Sahib Jalan Sungai Besi,Kuala Lumpur
    • Gurdwara Sahib Jinjang, Kuala Lumpur
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kampung Pandan Settlement, Kuala Lumpur
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kuyow, Kuala Lumpur
    • Gurdwara Sahib Mainduab, Kuala Lumpur
Gurdwara Sahib Police
    • Gurdwara Sahib Police, Kuala Lumpur
    • Gurdwara Sahib Police Depot, Kuala Lumpur
    • Gurdwara Sahib Police Jalan Parliament, Kuala Lumpur
    • Gurdwara Sahib Central Workshops Sentul, Kuala Lumpur
    • Gurdwara Nanak Darbar Tatt Khalsa, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    • Gurdwara Sahib, Titiwangsa Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    • Gurdwara Sahib Majha Diwan Malaya
  • Labuan
    • Gurdwara Sahib Labuan
  • Kedah
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kulim,Kedah
    • Gurdwara Sahib Sungei Petani,Kedah
    • Gurdwara Sahib Alor Star, Kedah
  • Kelantan
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tumpat, Kelantan
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kota Bahru,Kelantan
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kuala Krai, Kelantan
  • Malacca
    • Gurdwara Sahib Malacca
  • Negeri Sembilan
    • Gurdwara Sahib Mantin, Negeri Sembilan
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kuala Klavang, Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan
    • Gurdwara Sahib Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan
    • Gurdwara Sahib Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kuala Pilah,Negeri Sembilan
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tampin, Negeri Sembilan
  • Pahang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Brinchang, Cameron Highlands, Pahang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Bentong, Pahang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kuala Lipis, Pahang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tanah Rata, Pahang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Raub, Pahang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Mentakab, Pahang
    • Gurdwara Sahib (Sikh Temple), Kuantan
  • Penang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Khalsa Dharmak Jatha, Penang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Sikh Police, Penang
    • Wadda Gurdwara Sahib, Penang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Perai, Penang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Butterworth, Penang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Bukit Mertajam, Penang
  • Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Khalsa Dharmik Sabha, Parit Buntar, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Pokok Assam, Taiping, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Taiping, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Sitiawan, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Sungei Siput Utara, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Chemor, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kampong Kepayang, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tanjong Rambutan, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kuala Kangsar, Perak
    • Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj Sahib, Kaniunting,Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Bruas, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Bagan Serai, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Jelapang, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Sikh Dharmak Sabha,Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Gunong Rapat, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Buntong, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tambun, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Menglembu Regrouping Area, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Lahat, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Gopeng, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Malim Nawar, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tanjong Tuallang, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Changkat Tin, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Ayer Papan, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tronoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Pusing, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Siputeh, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Menglembu, Jalan Lahat, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Bercham, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Greentown, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kampar, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Teluk Intan, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Slim River, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Changkat, Batu Gajah, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Batu Gujah, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Gopeng, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Malay States Guide, Taiping, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Police, Ipoh, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tanjong Malim, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Bidor, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tapah, Perak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tronoh Mines, Kampar, Perak
  • Perlis
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kangar, Perlis
  • Sabah
    • Gurdwara Sahib Singh Sabha, Lahad Datu, Sabah
    • Gurdwara Sahib Tawau, Sabah
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
    • Gurdwara Sahib Sandakan, Sabah
  • Sarawak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kuching, Sarawak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Sibu, Sarawak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Bau, Sarawak
    • Gurdwara Sahib Miri, Sarawak
  • Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Puchong,Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Klang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kalumpang, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kuala Kubu Baru, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Berjuntai Tin, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Klang, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Shah Alam, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Lembah Jaya, Ampang, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Kajang, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Batu Arang, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Ampang, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Guru Ram Das, Banting, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Bukit Beruntung, Selangor
    • Gurdwara Sahib Petaling Jaya
    • Gurdwara Sahib Rawang
    • Gurdwara Sahib Bandar Sunway
    • Gurdwara Sahib Nanaksar, Serendah

Persecution

Main articles: Violation of human rights of religious and ethnic minorities in Malaysia, Racism against nonmuslims in Malaysia, Bigoted anti-minority Bumiputera laws, Islamic fundamentalism, Political Islam, and State terrorism

Human rights of religious and ethnic minorities in Malaysia, including Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Indians and Malaysian Chinese, are systematically, officially and legally violated regularly in an institutionalised manner to induce forced conversions and ethnic cleansing to homogenise society to Islam.

In 2017,A teaching module published by a leading Malaysian university (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) ) depicted Hindus in India as unclean and dirty in a slide. Another slide aimed at teaching the origins of Sikhism claimed that founder Guru Nanak had a poor understanding of Islam and had combined it with his surrounding Hindu lifestyle in forming the early foundation of the Sikh faith. A police report was lodged by the chairman of the Hindu Dharma Association of Malaysia in Sungai Petani district against UTM.[4][5] Malaysia's Minister of Health, Deputy Minister of Education and others had condemned this incident .Due to these condemnations, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) was forced to apologize.[6]

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See also

References
  1. "Overseas Indian: Connecting India with its Diaspora". Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
  2. ਸਿੰਘ, Harinder Singh | ਹਰਿੰਦਰ; ਸਿੰਘ, Harinder Singh | ਹਰਿੰਦਰ. "Bhai Maharaj Singh: Freedom Fighter for Panjab". Sikh Research Institute. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  3. Kahlon, Swarn Singh (2016). Virk, Dr. Hardev Singh (ed.). Sikhs in Asia Pacific’s: Travels among the Sikh Diaspora from Yangon to Kobe. New Delhi: Manohar Publisher , New Delhi.
  4. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/malaysia-varsitys-module-depicts-hindus-in-india-as-unclean-sparks-row/
  5. https://www.malaymail.com/s/1140889/deputy-minister-intervenes-over-utm-slides-on-dirty-hindus
  6. https://m.indiatimes.com/news/india/malaysian-university-publishes-a-paper-calling-hindus-in-india-unclean-forced-to-apologise-257714.html
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