SINGAPORE, Dec 29 : Over 10,000 Sikhs gathered in Singapore on Sunday to promote community, understanding, and harmony, marking the conclusion of Naam Ras, a four-day religious and cultural fair.
Singapore’s Law and Home Minister K Shanmugam and Zaqy bin Mohamad, a senior minister of state for Manpower and Defence, attended the festivities. They also welcomed interfaith groups representing non-Sikhs to the biennial gala ‘mela’ which ran from December 26 to 29.
The ministers were honoured with the traditional Sikh Saropas (scarves).
Malminderjit Singh, Chairman of the Sikh Advisory Board here said the Naam Ras Kirtan Darbar is a ground-up event designed to foster community, understanding, and harmony.
He added that the event was organised by the Singapore Sikh community, along with support from well-wishers, donors, and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) of Singapore.
Overall, more than 50,000 Singapore Sikhs attended the four-day carnival-style festival, showcasing the community’s deep cultural links to its ancestral homeland in Punjab and northern India.
Minister Shanmugam congratulated the Sikh organisations, led by gurdwaras and social services units here, for organising the event.
“Events like this build greater bonds in the community,” he said, noting the gathering of people from all over the region at the event.
“It is one of the largest Sikh gatherings outside of India,” said Professor Nirmal Singh Randhawa who hails from Amritsar and has been part of the biennial event since the beginning as a lead advisor and preacher of Sikh cultures.
Sikhs from the UK, the US, Australia, New Zealand and the Southeast Asian countries, where the community has flourished over a century but maintained close relations with their ancestor homes, attended the event.
Volunteers, including migrant workers from northern India, ran the show that showcased the lifestyle of Sikhs, a flourishing but minority community of 12,000 in the prosperous city-state.
The event, which was held from 5.30 to 10 pm each evening, gave non-Sikhs insight into backgrounds and cultures and offered a unique opportunity to explore the rich traditions of the Sikh faith, said Malminderjit Singh.
The show included performing arts, Sikh traditional music and live drama performances on Sikh history. (PTI)
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