Environs Eagles

Malaysian Gurdwaras Council says “It’s our constitutional right. We will not tolerate any form of obstruction on the usage, be it written or spoken, of the original words of ‘Allah’ and the likes in our now 405-years old holy book and our Punjabi language.”

Sikhism is a religion founded on the monotheistic teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469 – 1539). He attained guruship on 1507. He was succeeded by nine other gurus, until the death of the tenth and last guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji in 1708. The Gurus were born in Northern India, but traveled extensively from as far west as Iraq to Assam in the east and Sri Lanka in the south.

The fifth guru, Guru Arjan Dev Ji was responsible for the compilation of the Adi Granth, that also includes his revelations and of those of the earlier four gurus. This Holy Scripture was completed in 1604. The hymns of the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji were added in the year 1705 by Guru Gobind Singh Ji in the final Sikh Holy Scripture, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

Shortly before his demise in 1708, Guru Gobind Singh Ji ordered that the Guru Granth Sahib Ji would be the ultimate spiritual authority for the Sikhs, the final and eternal guru. The holy book is the perpetual living Guru of Sikhism.

The Guru Granth Sahib Ji is one of the few scriptures in the world that has been compiled by the founders of a faith during their own life time. It is particularly unique among sacred texts in that it is written in Gurmukhi script but contains many languages including Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Bhojpuri and Persian.

The holy book spans 1,430 pages and in 33 sections, there are a total of 5,894 hymns of six Sikh Gurus, thirteen Hindu bhagats or saints, five Muslim divines, a Sikh devotee and twelve bards.

In Sikhism today, there is nothing more important than the holy book. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji resides around the world, in every Gurdwara or Sikh Temple, and in every Sikh household. The Priests and other Sikhs will perform ceremonies to show respect to the holy book. While moving it, it is common to carry it on top of a covered head. When it is open and exposed, it is common to wave a Chaur Sahib over it.

The word “Allah” is predominantly used in Arabic and other Middle-eastern languages, and in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. It has been used for centuries to mean the one and only God, the Almighty. The same spoken word is written in many different scripts and alphabets of these various languages. Its usage also predates Islam.

The word “Allah’ (and its derivatives of “Alah”, “Alhu”, “Allahu”, “Alaahi”) in reference to God is also utilized approximately 46 times in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. It is thus not exclusive to any written or spoken language in Malaysia. It predates the Malaysian Independence, and thus its usage is assured in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

The President of the Malaysian Gurdwaras Council, V. Harcharan Singh said followers of the Sikh religion in Malaysia would not tolerate any form of obstruction on the usage, be it written or spoken, of the original words and terms taken from their now 405-years old holy book.

He strongly suggests that the Malaysian authorities do in-depth researches, findings and understandings before passing on any of their ideas or implementing any legislation on the use of words or terms of languages in the religious scriptures and writings in our multi-religious and multi-lingual society.

The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council is the umbrella body of some 130 Gurdwaras or Sikh Temples nationwide representing more than 100,000 Sikhs and many other North Indians (Punjabi and Sindhi descents) followers of the religious teachings.

V. Harcharan Singh is also the Vice President of The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST).

Video by R. Vijay Kumar, Citizen Journalist

Members of Parliament, residents, property owners, business community, consumers and pilgrims are not opposed to development in Brickfields. They are however opposed to the ‘RM110 million Traffic dispersal plans’ in that area. The dispersal plan involves in making the whole network of roads within Brickfields into one-way streets. They say the authorities are apparently doing this ‘development project’ to ease the current traffic congestion in the area. They said the traffic flow problem is actually due to the increase traffic flow into the area, but the lack of parking spaces available. They urge the DBKL enforcement officers and the police to enforce the law more strictly against people who park their cars haphazardly along the road sides.

The residents and parents also fear that the school going children will now be exposed to further dangers of a heavier traffic in the schools area.

The business community at the ‘Little India’ is also afraid they will loose customers because of the one-way street. They said the ‘Little India’ concept becomes a farce and the ‘Traffic Dispersal Plan’ will indeed become a ‘Dispersal Plan’ of the ‘Little India’ and the business community.

They said instead of frittering away the millions, the authorities should make more parking spaces to cater for this growing metropolitan area. The money saved could be used to beautify the place and enhance more security in this theft and snatch-thief prone area.

Video by Citizen Journalists, R.Vijay Kumar and SS Vijeindran.

On October 31, 2009 in Taman Sri Sentosa, off Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur, a PKR fund-raising dinner was disrupted and there were attempts to prematurely end it by the police. The event was organised by PKR Lembah Pantai headed by Nurul Izzah Anwar.

• Citizen Journalist, R. Vijay Kumar was present throughout the disruption.

• The fund raising dinner was organized and hosted by Parti KeAdilan Rakyat Lembah Pantai.

• MP Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar and leaders from her constituency chose an apt theme for the dinner, “Dinner for Justice” or “Jamuan Makan Malam Keadilan” which also jives with the name of their political party.

• MP Batu, Tian Chua was the guest of honour. He was recently found guilty of biting a policeman, and was sentenced to 6 months jail and a RM3,000 fine. He has appealed.

• Can’t MPs and State Assemblyperson talk about politics and/or their programmes at dinners organized by their political parties and the people who supported them in constituencies?

• Did the Brickfields OCPD expect the MPs not to address the guests and donors?

• Was the OCPD taking orders or reporting his every move? He was seen answering his mobile phone several times during the commotion.

• The organizers were quick to pacify the crowd by singing the national anthem.

• Were the Police attempting to cause tension? What if some of those who attended the dinner acted out of frustration in the heat of the moment?

• Nurul Izzah and Tian Chua were right to save the evening. They did not give the police any grounds to stop the occasion.

Video by R. Vijay Kumar, Citizen Journalist