Sikhism in Malaysia

It is estimated that there are around 335,000 Sikhs in Malaysia.

Early Sikh pioneers

Despite the popular belief that Sikhs were brought to the then Malaya as police and soldiers, historically it is proven that Sikhs were actually sent to Malaya as political prisoners. The first few Sikhs to set foot in Malaya were Nihal Singh (better known as Bhai Maharaj Singh) and Kharak Singh, who were thrown out of India due to anti-British involvement somewhere around 1800. These prisoners were sent to the Outram Road prison in what is now Singapore. In 1865, it is believed that the process of migration of Sikhs to Malaysia started again but this time involved recruitment in the armed forces in the British Empire mainly as police, military and guards.

Gurdwaras in Malaysia

There are a total of 119 gurdwaras throughout Malaysia. 42 of them are situated in the state of Perak, where the majority of Sikhs in Malaysia resides.

Sikh professionals

Most Sikhs started out as policemen, soldiers,planters big shot,guards and even businessmen. However, it is normal to see Sikhs working as professionals now for example, doctors, lawyers, dentists, teachers,etc. There is also a fair number of young Sikhs with tertiary education born in Malaysia now living in advanced Western countries such as USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.