Public get a taste of Sikh tradition on Malaysia Day

Harinder (left, in yellow jersey) with other Sikh youths during the Kheer and Cha event in Bukit Bintang.

THE Malaysian Sikh youth celebrated Malaysia Day with the distribution of Punjabi delicacies to passers-by in Bukit Bintang.

The event called “Kheer and Cha” was a reflection of the Sikh tradition of giving out food and drinks to members of the public.

One of the youth at the event, Palvinder Singh, said kheer, a sweet rice pudding, is served at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, India, until today.

The youth, who were dressed in Malaysia jerseys, also served choley, a chickpea dish, and cha, which is tea.

Apart from the food distribution, there was also performances by the youths, including the singing of the national anthem and other patriotic songs such as Jalur Gemilang and Inilah Barisan Kita, accompanied by the dhol.

Event organiser Harinder Kaur said the objective of the event was to make the Sikhs known to other communities in Malaysia.

“The Sikh community has been in Malaysia for a long time but not everyone is well informed about us.

“This event was organised to serve food and also let people know who the Sikhs are and that we love this country.

“This is our way of contributing to the celebration of Malaysia Day.”

“This is the first such initiative organised by the Sikh youths, ” she added.

Harinder said the food was prepared by the youths at the Gurdwara Sahib Pulapol along with some help.

Meanwhile, another Sikh youth Gurpreet Singh said as a Malaysian Sikh, he bond with the country was strong.

“Everything in me is Malaysian, ” he said, reminiscing about the time he moved to Canada and missed Malaysia dearly.

“I missed the little things that make us Malaysians, such as being able to get food at any time of the day.

“It is just that in the grander scale of things, we (Sikhs) are not out there enough, ” he said, adding that efforts have been made to increase the visibility of Sikhs in Malaysia.

“As we are a small community, we are focused on building ourselves so there is a gap in doing activities to reach out to other communities.

“Other than this event, we are also setting up the Malaysian Youth Sikh Association (MYSA) and working closely with the Malaysian Youth Council to organise more events with other Malaysian communities, ” Gurpreet added.