Sikhs celebrate New Year by reaching out to needy Singaporeans

Celebrating the Sikh New Year Day, Vaisakhi, on 13 April 2007, the community reached out to the less privileged in Singapore. The Sikhs distributed rations and refreshments to the patients at the Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital. The hospital is a charitable organisation providing healthcare to the needy and lower-income families in Singapore. It has about 300 patients, many of them aged.

In the event organised by YSA, the donations were collected at the Central Sikh Temple and then brought over and distributed to the patients at the hospital. The Sikh visitors then spent time chatting with and giving some cheer to the patients. YSA’s mission is to create world ready young Singaporeans, enhance mutual understanding on issues of common concern and foster friendship across the ethnic groups so that the young Singaporeans continue to remain engaged with the rest of the island’s society and the world community.

The whole affair was aimed at giving the community members the chance to share the joy of its New Year with the sick and the old, lending a helping hand to them. Equally important, it provided an opportunity to build a stronger bond among fellow Singaporeans.

Vaisakhi commemorates the occasion when five brave Sikhs sacrifice their lives for their community. Instituted by the 10th Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the day falls in the first month of the Sikh calendar. . The celebrations are closely tied to the Amrit ceremony or the initiation rite into Sikhism. Vaisakhi is also the anniversary of the founding of the Khalsa in 1699 by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji.