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27 Oct. 2010 ~ San Antonio, TX - Sikh Research Institute (SikhRI) spent 10 days on its first speaking tour of Malaysia. Working through five cities and presenting 12 events, SikhRI attributes a great deal of the popularity and success of the tour’s events to the organization and support of Malaysia’s numerous local Sikh organizations. Dr. Gurpal Singh Bhuller, who was born in Malaysia and currently serves as chairperson of SikhRI’s board of directors, spoke of the unique spirit of Malaysian Sikhs, “Although the community is small, it has remained very visible and continues to contribute to the multicultural fabric of the country,” Dr. Bhuller said. “Negotiating a path forward in this sort of challenging environment, while keeping their Sikhi heritage intact, is what the community is seeking to accomplish and what SikhRI came this month to offer assistance in doing.”

Beginning in Klang, Malaysia on 8 October at the Gurduara Sahib, Harinder Singh, Chief Programming Officer for SikhRI, spoke on “Woman: Gateway to Freedom.” More than 400 people attended the talk, which has become more and more popular in SikhRI’s rotation of topics, to hear Harinder explore the ways that women’s roles are rooted in scripture, tradition and history, and how these factors must evolve with expectations of quality in the modern world. The talk was sponsored by Sikh Women’s Awareness Network (SWAN) and Gurduara Sahib, Klang. Bhajan Kaur, who attended several events on the tour, commented, “Harinder is able to justify whatever he says with evidence. He urges us to think for ourselves and not follow blindly. It is a very refreshing approach.”

download-1 (441K)The next two days, 9-10 October, were spent at the 2 nd Biennial National Sikh Conference on the Leadership of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji , where Harinder spoke at events sponsored by the Institute of Sikh Philosophy, Research & Education (InSPiRE). The first event SikhRI facilitated was a Youth Roundtable in Kuala Lumpur. Forty-five young people worked together in dialogue and discussion to answer questions about the ways that the Guru Granth Sahib ji provides leadership and guidance in their lives. The next day, 75 people attended a day-long discussion in Petaling Jaya on “Leadership Values in Sikhi”.

From 11-13 October, there were three events in three cities. “Gurduara: A Place of Learning” was held at the YMCA in Ipoh. The event was attending by 130 people and sponsored by Union of Perak Sikh Organizations (UPSO). Ten Gurduaras were present and seven Sikh organizations sent attendees. Dheer Singh, chairman of UPSO-Ipoh said that the talk Harinder gave was captivating, honest and rooted in an impressive understanding of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. He hopes that future events could be held in an even larger venue to accommodate more attendees.

In Penang, 100 people attended “Rekindling the Sikh Spirit,” sponsored by Wadda Gurduara Sahib Penang. “ Harinder Singh highlighted the blunt realities that exist in our society. He was hitting hard at the hypocrisies that exist in our society when we perform certain acts and ceremonies to make people believe that it’s being done to follow the teachings of our gurus when in fact we are merely exposing our hypocrisy,” said Dr. Chatar Singh, who moderated the event. “Not many Malaysians will have the guts to make such pronouncements but Harinder did it with grace and by giving vivid examples from our actions.” One-thousand people came for the third event in Petaling Jaya on the Khalsa Raj and the role of Banda Singh Bhadur in its formation. The talk was sponsored by Gurduara Sahib Petaling Jaya.

On 14 October, SikhRI was back in Kuala Lumpur for a second presentation on “Rekindling the Sikh Spirit.” The talk was held at Sabha House and sponsored by Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM). “I appreciated the frankness, clarity and depth,” said Gurmeet Kaur, a resident of Kuala Lumpur who attended the event. “More of these sessions would raise the awareness required to benefit and inspire individuals to make change needed amongst our people.”

download-2 (399K)SikhRI rounded out the tour the weekend of 15-17 October with five events. The Punjabi Education Trust Malaysia (PETM) and Khalsa Diwan Malaysia (KDM) sponsored a talk on “Imparting Sikhi Education” which was held in the library of Gurduara Sahib in Petaling Jaya. Twenty-five people attended the event, which introduced ideas about the educator’s role in Sikh educational institutions, resources SikhRI has available—such as Sojhi curriculum and the Sikh Educator’s Network—and ways to for instructors to plan lessons which are effective and relevant.

Saturday, 16 October, two events were held in Sabha house in Kuala Lumpur. A Sevadar training on “Becoming an Inspiring Activist” drew 60 people. Later that evening, a group of 20 gathered for an open conversation on “Organizational Matters.” Attendees discussed the role of the Gurduara and its leaders in strengthening existing infrastructure in Malaysian Sikh communities. Both events were sponsored by SNSM. “I found the talks very thought provoking – always encouraging the listeners to reexamine the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of our actions and practices,” said Amarjit Singh, Jathedar [President] of SNSM.

The final day of the tour, 17 October, Harinder presented at the Gurduara Sahib, Tatt Khalsa Diwan in Kuala Lumpur on “1984: Ghallughara & I.” The talk, which 350 people came for, outlined the events of June and November 1984, the myths and realities of the attacks, their importance in a Sikh context, and a vision for the future that is rooted in progress and justice.

A second presentation of “Woman: Gateway to Freedom” was held later that afternoon at Sabha House. Sponsored by SWAN and SNSM, the final event of SikhRI’s visit was attended by 75 people. “[The] workshop was a great experience and an eye-opener from the doctrine of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji,” said Col. Mohan Singh, from Kuala Lumpur. “Harinder left the group with a lot of action steps. Those action steps need to be expanded and developed in the local Sikh community perspective.”

Autar Singh, SikhRI’s lead coordinator for the tour was pleased with how well each of the programs on the tour was received. “Harinder connected very well with the youths as well as with the adults,” Autar said. “You felt that he was talking to you directly, even though there were many others in the audience.”

 

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