Mejar Singh Gill – Sikhs of the Naval Base & Singapore Part 1 | Chronicles of Old Singapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. LTC (Retd) Mejar Singh Gill talks to me about growing up in the Singapore Naval Base in the ‘50s and ‘60s where the Sikhs were prominent in the naval police and armed forces. He explains why he wrote the book, Singapore’s ‘Northern Sikhs'’ and their Gurdwaras, and the important role Sikh temples play in the spiritual and social life of the community. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/ogOR3Rf6jo4 Part 2 | https://youtu.be/GxotVkAnuf4 00:00 Introduction 01:50 Sikhs in the Naval Base 05:54 Singapore’s ‘Northern Sikhs'’ and their Gurdwaras 15:27 Why Sikh Temples are Important 26:11 The Temples’ Social Functions 33:22 Challenges in Relocating the Temples 40:08 Sikh Temple at Silat Road 45:47 Sikhs in the City Singapore’s ‘Northern Sikhs'’ and their Gurdwaras by Mejar Singh https://gsy.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GSY-Northern-Sikhs-book.pdf I’m Dr Loh KS, the people’s historian. I’m interested in the history of Singapore and the lives of its people. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city today. We discuss three topics: 1. People and places. 2. Change and continuity. 3. The importance of heritage. As a historian, I try to stay true to the oral history method on a video format and social media platform. I let the interviewee speak, as the ‘voice of the past’ as Paul Thompson put it. No clickbait, no BS, no posturing. The aim is to canvas a wide range of voices on various aspects of Singapore history and heritage – physical, social, cultural, economic. Do like the video, share your memories below and subscribe to the channel for future episodes. Write to me if you have questions or thoughts on Old Singapore or want to come onto the podcast: lohkahseng@chroniclesresearch.com Support Chronicles of Old Singapore on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore Follow the channel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551786759344 Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lks992002 Chronicles Research & Education is my research consultancy on the history of Singapore: https://www.chroniclesresearch.com/ Caveat: this is above all a podcast based on personal memory. As has been well-documented in oral history, memory is not always reliable and what is recalled here should not be taken as fact. However, as Alessandro Portelli noted, the subjectivity of oral history is also its great strength, and what is inaccurately remembered may point to how deeply meaningful the past is to people. #singaporehistory #memory #heritage #nostalgia #oralhistory #socialhistory #history #singapore