Sikh Temple Association wants to use approved site for Punjabi school

KUCHING: The Sarawak Sikh Temple Association wants to construct a building adjacent to Kuching Sikh Temple here for conducting Punjabi language classes.

President Dr Kalwinder Singh Khaira said as such, the association could not be more thankful for the land recently approved by Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg.

Despite being a small group in the state, the Sikh community has to preserve its culture and tradition, asserted Dr Kalwinder.

He said preserving the Punjabi language is a means of upholding part of the traditions of the community.

“Punjabi is our language and sometimes our younger generation cannot speak their own language. So we have Punjabi class every Saturday from 2.30pm to 5.30pm. But the space is not enough.

“We want to expand, make another building for the (Punjabi) school. We are also thankful that Datuk Amar has approved another piece of land in Batu Kitang for our cremation ground,” he said when met by reporters during the Vaisakhi Celebration 2017 at the temple located at Jalan Masjid here yesterday.

Dr Kalwinder said the association’s present cremation ground is situated at Pending, an area surrounded by mixed development.

“So for the last 10 years, we could not do cremation there. If we do that, it would be bad for the property value there. So we made a request for a land in Batu Kitang, and the state government has approved.

“The land is approximately two acres and this is more for the longterm. We have been here for 100 years, and we have to plan for the next 100 years for we don’t know what the future holds.”

According to him, there used to be a Sikh temple in Bau near here.

He said they had been requesting the state government to give the land back to the association or replace it with another piece of land there.

“There is so much development there (in Bau) now. We still want the land, so we requested and Datuk Amar asked me to hold on first, that they will look into it.”

Dr Kalwinder also appealed to the state government to put up a signage at the Batu Lintang Punjabi Barracks within the vicinity of the Batu Lintang Teachers’ Training College here.

At present, there was no signage at all on the historical site which remained unknown to tourists.

He added that many people were not aware of the existence of such a historical building which dated way back to the 1940s.

“The building is still there but there is no proper explanation as to what it is. It is an old building which is not in use. Prisoners of World War II used to stay there.”

Dr Kalwinder said he had written to the college director, asking for permission for the association to display a signage.

“If they allow, we will put up the signboard. We cannot do it ourselves because it is not our land. We want to put a signboard and take care of the historical site,” he added.