Khalsa Kindergarten

Khalsa Kindergarten, registered with Ministry of Education, is a well established educational entity began functioning on 10-2-1992. Today, the enrolment has steadily risen to 135 children. It has an extensive range of pre-school programmes to enhance holistic development. The Annual Graduation Day was held on 30 October 2004. The Guest of Honour was Mr V R Nathan. A concert presented by the chilren was very well received by all present.

The Professional Networking Lunch Meeting On 14th August 2004

The Professional Networking lunch meeting on 14th August 2004 was a success and attended by 40 persons.

The guest speaker was Mr Umej Bhatia, a post graduate student at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Harvard University. During Singapore’s first ever term in the UN Security Council from 2001- 2002, Bhatia served as a specialist on Iraq and the Middle East.

He gave a very interesting presentation entitled “The Seven Pillars of Transnational Terrorism”.

1) The first pillar is the impetus to challenge the global status quo.
2) The second pillar is the drive to polarize people.
3) The third pillar is to raise Muslim consciousness and strengthen Islamic identity.
4) The fourth pillar is to dissemble and shroud the movement’s profile and aims.
5) The fifth pillar is to leverage the failure of the governance in Islamic heartlands.
6) The sixth pillar is a trust in the tools of globalization.
7) The seventh pillar is a belief in the righteousness of an idealised past and a refusal to imagine the future.

He uncovered the 7 core beliefs of the transnational jihadi network and believed that understanding the jihadi ideology is vital if we hope to contain the militants.

The presentation was followed by a very lively question and answer session. Mr Daljit Singh made a closing speech and also presented a plague of appreciation to Umej Bhatia.

Sports Bursary Award Held on 14 August 2004

Singapore Khalsa Association awarded the sports bursary to four individuals to pursue higher education at NTU/NUS and Nanyang Polytehnic. The award ceremony was held on 14 Aug 2004 in conjunction with the National Day Luncheon held at the Kohinoor Restaurant.

The following are the four winner.

Harvinder Singh - Tertiary
Harpreet Singh - Tertiary
Lakhbir Singh - Post Secondary
Harjeet Singh - Post Secondary

High Tea On 23 July To Celebrate The Promotions Of Sikh SAF & Police Officers

"As part of the effort to promote networking and foster relationships, SKA organised a high tea on 23 Jul 2004 to celebrate the promotion of senior SAF and Police Officers. The response to the tea reception was excellent as more than 100 members of the Sikh Institutions were present for the event.

Among the officers promoted were Brigadier-General (BG) Ravinder Singh (promoted from Colonel to BG) and Dy Asst Commissioner (DAC) Kuldip Singh (promoted from Superintendent to DAC). BG Ravinder Singh, the first Sikh Officer in the SAF promoted to the rank of BG, paid tribute to the past senior Sikh Officers who led the SAF during the formative years and set the trail for the younger officers to emulate. Likewise DAC Kuldip said that the pioneering batch of police officers were not only committed to their police duties but also ensured the construction of a Gurdwara (Silat Road Temple) to ensure that the spiritual needs of the community were met."

The PNG lunch meeting for June 2004 was held on 12 June.

The speaker was Mr Prashun Dutt, Regional Director of CNBC. He spoke on "Cosmic Forces and their role in modern day Astrology". The talk was chaired by lawyer Mr Raghbeer Singh Bajwa.

The lunch meeting was conducted in the Teesri Mansil on the 3rd floor. The tight seating arrangement did not dampen the enthusiasm of the speaker, or of the audience, as evidenced by the long question and answer session.

Mr Jagjit Singh Sekhon presented the token of appreciation to the speaker at the end of the lunch meeting.

The next PNG function for the month of July will be a joint effort with the Cultural committee and it will be a dinner meeting featuring a talented group of musicians from Lahore, Pakistan. It will be held on 23rd July 2004 Level 3 Kohinoor Palace 7.30pm-11pm.

The Punjabi Cultural Nite on 8th June 2004 was organized by SKA Cultural and Social Committee.

It was a special event organized for the members of Singapore Khalsa Association and the Sikh Community. It was held on 8th June 2004 at second level SKA function hall from 7.00pm to 10.30pm. For the welfare of the SKA members and Sikh Community the entire funding for the nite was sponsored by Singapore Khalsa Association.

The audience were entertain by a well known Cultural Troupe , the Malwa Sabhya Charak India Troupe and they were well received by the audience .They following performance were performed by the Troupe , Bhangara Dance , Jundua Dance , Jhummer Dance , Malwai Dance Malwai Giddha , Holia Dance and Ghoomer. The sound system was provided by H3 entertainer.

The Cultural Troupe has put up a tremendous show and these was judge from the interest of the audience and their laughter certainly they were enjoying themselves. This event helped to further understand the richness of the Sikh culture and heritage.

The response was very encouraging. Approximately 650 attended the event.

The PNG programme on 8 May 2004

The speaker was Sanjeev Kapadia, head of Global NRI investments at Citibank, Singapore.

His topic was "Global Investment Opportunities for the NRI investor".

We had about 40 guests, and there was intense interest in this topic as evidenced by the lively Q&A during and after the presentation.

Vesakhi Mela 2004

Vesakhi Mela themed “Forging our Multi-Racial Bonding” was held on Sunday, 18th April 2004 at the Singapore Khalsa Association. It was open to all communities with highlights on sports from 9 am onwards followed by fun-fair, food stalls, tele-matches, tug-of-war and many other Sikh cultural events in the afternoon. The turnout was very good as many braved the heat to participated in this annual event.

PNG Talk

An Outline by Dr Sorinder Singh, Chairman of the PNG Group is given below:

It was another successful networking session on Saturday 07/02/2004. We had more than 43 attendees.

The speaker was Mr. Daljit Singh , a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of South East Asian Studies. He gave a riveting talk "Terrorism and its impact on South East Asia." He traced the roots of the doctrines of terrorism from the Middle East to Afghanistan and then on to South East Asia and the rest of the world. He also gave a meaningful insight into the psychological motivations being exploited by the propagators of terrorism and the consequences on the countries in SEA if terrorism is left unbridled. Our sincere thanks to Daljit. Also to Dr Kirpal Singh who delivered our very first talk and inspired us to continue these lunch sessions.

A plaque of appreciation was presented to Mr Daljit Singh by Doctor Kanwaljit Soin Senior Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon at Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

I would also like to take this opportunity to request for feedback on the following:

1. Choice of Topics for future discussions
There have been some requests for talks on medical issues such as prevention of heart attacks, cancers and osteoporosis. Others have requested talks on finance and investment management.
I am sure the university students have some issues that they would like aired.

2. Suggestions and recommendation of speakers for future meetings.
Please let us know of any resourceful person that you know who would like to share his knowledge with us. Please also "spread the word " about these meetings to your friends and colleagues who you think will benefit from these meetings.