Sikhism in Singapore

Maharaj Singh? There is some controversy over who the tomb at Outram Road and subsequently SGH grounds really belonged to. The only point of consensus is that it belonged to a saintly person.There are those who believe it is Maharaj Singh's. Then again there are those who say it was that of Baba Karam Singh, who was said to possess some spiritual powers too. What is certain is that those who maintained the tomb and later made it into a shrine of sorts, believed it was Baba Karam Singh and the name has come to stay. There may have been other political prisoners exiled to Singapore too, but nothing is known of them.The first wave of Sikhs to land in Singapore came in the form of sepoys (policemen) recruited in India to help keep the peace and put down the Chinese gang wars. In 1873, Captain Speedy recruited 110 Sikhs from the Patiala, Ludhiana and Ferozepur districts of Punjab for service in Perak (in Malaysia). This band was known as the Perak Armed Police. The success of these early recruits prompted the British to recruit more Sikhs and by 1888, under one Captain Walker, the group had grown and came to be known as the 1st Perak Sikhs. By 1896, the force numbered 900 and was renamed the Malay States Guides with Walker as their first Colonel.Meanwhile, the success of the Sikhs as policemen or sepoys in Malaya led the British to bring somedown to Singapore. The first batch also from Patiala, Ludhiana and Ferozepur was brought to Singapore in the late 1870s and formed the first Sikh Police Contingent stationed at Sepoy Lineslater known as Pearl's Hill overlooking Chinatown.  Sikh policemen were also recruited by the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company to form the Tanjong Pagar Dock Police Force.While the first wave of Sikhs came mainly as policemen, by 1885 more Sikhs from other districts in Punjab namely, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Lahore were making their own way down to Singapore to seek their fortunes. Most of these Sikhs could not enter the Police Force as the earlier recruits restricted subsequent entry to their relatives or fellow district folks. As such, these later migrants became watchmen, additional police constables, small time businessmen or went into dairy farming. The story of one Hari Singh Choney from Gurdaspur district is typical of these early migrants. Hari Singh came to Singapore in 1885. He travelled like many others on deck, cooking his own meals. He landed in Singapore at Tanjong Pagar and was helped by some Sikh policemen onduty who gave him temporary accomodation. One Sunder Singh, a police constable, helped him find a job patrolling the grounds of the Botanic Gardens. Like many of the Sikhs in Singapore then, Hari Singh led a very frugal life, repatriating most of his savings and helping to bring out other relatives. Acouple of years after his arrival, Hari Singh brought out his younger brother Jaimall Singh and found him a job as an Additional Police Constable. The job of these APCs in those days was to guard theGovernment run opium shops which were then legal in Singapore.Many of these early Sikhs came as bachelors. They later returned to India with some money,married and brought their families back. Hari Singh was no different, except in his case he had tore turn rather suddenly as his elder brother Bhagat Singh died suddenly leaving behind a young son.Hari Singh got married in India and adopted Bhagat Singh's son, Achar Singh.Hari Singh returned to Singapore after 1900 and got a job as a watchman with Lim Hoe Chiang of Tanjong Pagar. He was given a place to stay at the factory, at the junction of Wallich Street andPeck Seah Street. Next to the factory was an open piece of ground where Hari Singh decided to build a wooden shed and keep some dairy cows. He started with three cows and began what was eventually to become a full-time business. His adopted son, Achar Singh, started schooling but it was some time before the family grew. In 1920, the first of Hari Singh's four sons was born. Thencame the twins Bassan Singh and Wassawa Singh followed by the youngest, Inder Singh. The boys had plenty of Sikh friends as by then a lot of other Sikhs had migrated to Singapore. One SewaSingh Sedukay, whose village is close to Hari Singh's in India settled in Wallich Street and built a wooden shed next to Hari Singh's and started his own cattle business. Sewa Singh Sedukay's eldest son, Dewan Singh Randhawa till the 1980s ran the only Punjabi Weekly newspaper in Singapore.Like all other Sikh migrants, Hari Singh put a lot of emphasis on education. He made sure hischildren acquired both English and Punjabi education. Achar Singh joined the Government Printing Office in Johor Bahru as a proof reader. Sewa Singh joined the Medical Department as did Bassan Singh. Inder Singh later migrated to England and became a coal miner. Wasswa Singh died in his teens. After spending virtually his whole adult life in Singapore, Hari Singh like his contemporaries, did not wish to end his days in Singapore. He returned to India in 1952 and died there soon after. His descendants now fourth generation Sikhs in Singapore, are comfortably settled middle class Singaporeans, who while they still maintain links with their village in Punjab, have no intentions to return there. The early Sikhs were either watchmen, policemen or dairy farmers. The traders or businessmen in the community came much later after the Second World War and established themselves in High Street, dealing in mainly textiles. As stated earlier, the early Sikhs placed much emphasis in education and not surprisingly, their children either became civil servants or professionals through hard work and study.Religion is an integral part of the daily life of a Sikh. When the first batch of Sikhs was brought to Singapore by the East India Company as policemen, a temple was built for them at Pearl's Hill Barracks. Similarly, the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company built a temple for the Police in Anson Road. In 1920, a Sindhi merchant donated his house in Queen Street for a temple and the Sikhs named it "Wada Gurdwara", meaning "The Big Temple". The management committee consisted of elected representatives of the Mjha, Malwa and Doaba Sikhs. The three temples representing these areas -Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Khalsa Dharmak Sabha and Pardesi Khalsa Dharmak Dewa - sent three members each for the management committee and one member each for the Langar (Food)Committee.In 1925, the Majha Sikhs opened a temple in a double storey house in Queen Street near the junction of Bras Basah Road. Two years later, there was a misunderstanding over the priest, Giani Partap Singh, because he paid a dowry to get married. Santa Singh Sedukay and Ganesa Singh Malli opened another temple in Cecil Street with Giani Partap Singh as priest. So during this short period, there were two Singh Sabhas in Singapore. Two years later, both factions s ettled their differences and all the Mahja Sikhs moved back to the Queen Street premises. In 1931, the Sabha moved to its new temple at 90 Wilkie Road. In 1980, the Sabha moved to a new building at 92 Wilkie Road adjacent to the one built in 1931. The old building was converted into a Janjh Ghar and for accomodation. There are plans for a museum as well.The Malwa Sikhs started a temple in Chandy Road behind the present Cathay Building about the same time as the Majha Sikhs started the Sri Guru Singh Sabha . From Chandy Road, the Khalsa  Dharmak Sabha moved to its present building at 18 Niven Road.The Doaba Sikhs had their temple at Kirk Terrace. The government acquired their land for urban development and they have since moved to Lorong 19 Geyland. There used to be another Sikh Temple in a double storey building in Kerbau Road. This had been in existence since before the Second World War. There were also other Sikh Temples built for the convenience of Sikhs living in nearby. One such temple was the Jalan Kayu Gurdwara. There was also one in the Naval Base for Sikhs working in the base. Another was in Sembawang Road for those living and working outside the base area. Today, a new temple exists in Yishun called Yishun Gurdwara. This is the result of the merger of the Jalan Kayu and Sembawang Gurdwaras, following the residential developments in the north of Singapore. When the British Government decided to improve and extend the Harbour Board area, it was necessary to demolish the Dock Police Barracks where the temple was situated. It offered the Sikh Contingent land in Silat Road for the temple and also gave monetary aid. Two policemen from the Sikh Contingent were nominated to collect funds for the building of this temple. One of them was Wasawa Singh, father of Bakshis Singh, a retired school principal. Funds were collected from the