Goldkartz singer Surj passes away at 34

IPOH: One of Malaysia’s top Punjabi music performers, Datuk Sukhjit Singh Gill, has passed away after a heart attack.

He was 34.Sukhjit (pic), fondly known as Surj, formed one-half of the award-winning Goldkartz band along with his brother Datuk Manjit Singh Gill. Like Manjit, Sukhjit was also a lawyer.

It is learnt that the Malaysian Bhangra ambassador suffered a heart attack at 4.15pm yesterday.

In a statement issued, his older brother Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill said Sukhjit was the youngest son of Ipoh-based lawyer Tan Sri Darshan Singh Gill.

He married Datin Simerjit Kaur in 2019 and they have a two-year-old daughter.

Amarjit, who is vice-president of the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) and also an International Cycling Union (UCI) management board member, said his brothers’ latest music release titled Sab Gazab gained 34 million YouTube views in eight months.

“Goldkartz has won several local and international awards and is dubbed as Malaysia’s Bhangra Ambassadors. They were the first Malaysian artistes to perform at Wembley (in Britain) and also did music for Bollywood,” he said.In 2014, Sukhjit was called to the Bar at the Ipoh High Court, becoming the fifth member of his family to become a lawyer. He graduated in law from Universiti Malaya.

The funeral will be held at the Sikh Crematorium in Jalan Gurdwara (next to Wadda Gurdwara Sahib Ipoh) at 1pm tomorrow. The cortege will leave the residence at No. 20, Jansz Avenue here at 12.45pm.