SKA 75th Anniversary Celebration
Guest-of-Honour Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

Singapore Khalsa Association celebrated its 75th Anniversary by hosting a dinner on 29 Dec 2006. Since its establishment, the Association has reached several milestones and, today, has the support and patronage of a large section of the Sikh community. The Guest-of-Honour, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, was invited to deliver a speech - read it here.

Vesakhi Mela 2006

The Vesakhi Mela was held on Sunday 16th of April 06 at the Balestier Plains. We continued our efforts to reinforce and build on last year’s theme of “Forging our Multiracial Bonding”. It was open to all communities and invitations were sent through various channels including neighbourhood schools, CDC, the expatriate Indian Schools and various institutions. Sporting activities commenced at 8 am. Many other family oriented games and cultural activities were also held in the afternoon. Special efforts were made to allow Guests and Sikhs to witness some aspects of our rich heritage or “Virsa” and the numbers of stalls were increased as compared to last year.

There was also an audiovisual show that explained why the Sikhs celebrate Vesakhi, wherein both the religious and cultural reasons were explained. The show also included glimpses of our way of life in the villages etc. and the kind of tools and equipment that are used in everyday village life.

Overall the event went very well and saw a record turn out in almost perfect weather. Over the day, more than six thousand visitors came and enjoyed the activities at the Mela i.e. "Our Heritage" corner, games, food, shows and sports.

The sporting events, especially soccer, were a big draw and saw a record number of teams participating. Other games included hockey and netball. The event had a truly multi-cultural feel and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Young Khalsa League 2006

The event was kicked off on 5th March 2006. A total 28 Teams participated in 3rd Young Khalsa League 2006. 600 members and participants were present to witness the opening ceremony. The games were played on weekends and on Public Holidays. The games were enthusiastically supported by the parents/family members of the young players. The finals of the knock out were played on 9th April 2006. A crowd of 700 members were present and the Guest-of-Honour, Mr Gerald Singham, Chairman Trust Central, Central Singapore CDC gave away the prizes to the winners.

National Football League

Here are the results of the National Football League 2006.

• NFL Division One - Tessensohn Fixtures 2006

6th Bhai Maharaj Singh Inter-Gurdwara Golf Championship 2006

Singapore Khalsa Association and Central Sikh Gurdwara Board jointly organized the 6th Bhai Maharaj Singh Inter-Gurdwara Golf Championship on 31st May 2006 at the Palm Resort Golf & Country Club, Johore Bahru. The continued annual joint organization reflects the close coordination between a religious and a sporting body of our community. This year as part of the 150th Anniversary Celebrations for Bhai Maharaj Singh, more events are being organised jointly to promote unity in our small but dynamic Sikh Community in Singapore.

The response to this event continues to be very encouraging, especially after changing to the new Inter-Gurdwara format since last year. The change has added a “friendly competition” spirit” to the festivities and we hope that this trend will continue and hope to make this a premier golf event in the Sikh calendar of events annually.

Gurdwara Johore Bahru successfully defended the “Champion Gurdwara” Trophy they won last year and Dhanvinder Singh Saini won the Individual Best Gross Trophy.

Our congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you to all those who supported the event by sponsoring (especially our main sponsor ICICI Private Banking and supporting sponsor G-Serv), participating and or helping in the organisation.

PNG talk on 11 March 2006

Our Guest speaker for the PNG lunch on 11th March 2006 was Mr Shantanu Puri, a leading lawyer practicing in Chandigarh.

The turnout was satisfactory and those who attended were given an eloquent presentation of the current situation in the different sectors of the Indian economy. He briefed us in particular on the buzz that is taking place in the Punjab and the opportunities that now await the keen investor. His talk was followed by an enthusiastic Q & A session. Lawyer Darshan Purain Singh presented the plaque of appreciation to the speaker.