ORANGE COUNTY: Guests at a reception hosted by Bicky Singh and Jagjit Singh last week heard of the common ground between the Sikh community and the aspirations of the OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.
The reception, attended by over 150 people, was held in honor of both the new Orange County Sheriff and Honorary Director of the Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail, Harbinder Singh. The former spoke of how she looks forward to forging strong ties with the diverse community of the OC. The latter, visiting from the UK, already has strong ties with a number of the Californian Sikhs present in the audience, who had participated in the inaugural Sikh heritage tour of the UK in July 2008. One of the tourists Maninder Kaur Saini recalled how the visit had "opened her eyes to the sheer amount of Sikh Heritage that lay undiscovered in the UK.
" Harbinder Singh used his address to reflect on the success of the tour as well as talk more widely about the legacy of integration and public service that characterizes the Sikh community's contribution to all the countries in which it settles. He commented: "For Sikhs the ultimate service is not that in pursuit of its own interest but that in service of others we have no issue in respecting the values and beliefs of others and all we ask in return is that they do likewise.
We are not here to convert or subvert but to contribute and coexist" He illustrated his point by quoting from Rev CF Andrews, a contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi, who said of the Sikhs "It would be difficult to find a more generous or forgiving people, and a nation that bore less malice and hatred in its heart."
Introducing the Sheriff, Guninder Kaur recalled her implacable and spontaneous support for the Sikhs post 9/11 and the way in which she continued to demonstrate a genuine interest in the issues that affected them.
Sherrif Hutchens said she looked forward to working with the Sikh community in a way that fostered greater communal harmony and an understanding of their faith and heritage.
