The Silat Road Sikh Temple (SRST) is celebrating its centenary this year, and its board will hold two major events to mark the milestone.
Tomorrow, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah will be the guest of honour at a light-up, following which there will be a march past by Dashmesh Bagpipe Band, flagbearers and Sikh Centre children.
On July 6, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will unveil a mural at the temple premises, after which members of the Gurmat Sangeet Academy will perform.
The mural will depict SRST and the Bhai Maharaj Singh Memorial over the years; particularly its links to the Sikh Contingent of the Straits Settlements Police Force.
The two events will also see the presence of senior civil servants, diplomats, Sikh community leaders, leaders of various faiths and other distinguished guests.
SRST has a storied history. It officially opened in 1924, two years after the purchase of the land where it currently stands at Jalan Bukit Merah.
The land was purchased by members of the Sikh Contingent of the Straits Settlements Police Force and used for religious and community gatherings. It was the first gurdwara (Sikh temple) in Singapore whose architecture included a traditional Sikh dome.
During World War II, SRST housed the widows and families of Sikh soldiers killed in action.
After the war, while some of these families returned to India, the temple continued to provide accommodation to Sikhs in transit from India to Hong Kong and Shanghai, and to the newly migrated local Sikhs – a role it played until the 1990s.
This year also marks the 168th anniversary of the saint-soldier Bhai Maharaj Singh, who died during internment by the British at Outram Prison in 1856, and to whom the adjacent memorial at SRST is dedicated.
While the SRST started as a gurdwara for the Sikh Contingent of the Straits Settlements Police Force who were among the first Sikhs brought in by the British in the late 19th century to help with law and order, it was merged with Central Sikh Temple in 1981 to form the Central Sikh Gurdwara Board.
Today, SRST continues to provide religious activities to the devotees and runs a significant community kitchen that operates seven days a week and was particularly active during the Covid-19 lockdowns, serving thousands of meals a day to people of all races.
It is arguably the most patronised gurdwara in Singapore and maybe even the region, not least because of the Bhai Maharaj Sahib Memorial located within its premises which is visited by Sikhs and non-Sikhs.
Over the years, the temple has been instrumental in fostering understanding of the Sikh community and its traditions, promoting interfaith harmony and serving as a conduit between the Sikh community and the wider Singapore community, thereby making an indelible contribution to inter-religious harmony and nation-building.
SRST’s 100th anniversary celebrations not only commemorate its history and contributions, but also highlights its continued commitment to contribute to Singapore’s multicultural fabric.
