Capturing illustrious history of Pulapol Sikhs

By Asia Samachar | MALAYSIA |

Do you know there is a gurdwara located in the heart of Malaysia’s oldest police training academy in Kuala Lumpur?

The gurdwara, established some eight decades ago, is a symbol of pride for Malaysian Sikhs in general, and the Sikhs in the police force, in particular. It is also the epicenter of the illustrious history of the Sikh men and women who have served the nation’s police force.

A plan is afoot to capture the history of Gurdwara Sahib Pulapol (GSP) and the lionized role played by the Sikhs in the Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM), as the police forces is officially known. Keep a lookout for #PulapolSikhs.

As the gurdwara is now more than 80 years old, the team at GSP intend to go back to the beginning to see how the gurdwara came about. They want to capture the key people involved in the project. They are keen to record the names of subsequent Sikh police men and women who played an instrumental role in the affairs of the gurdwara.

“We want to write the gurdwara’s history. We are also keen to capture the life journey of Sikh police men, women and officers who went through Pulapol,” GSP committee president ACP Ravinder Singh Sarban Singh told Asia Samachar.

Pulapol is short for Pusat Latihan Polis, or Police Training Centre. Located at Jalan Semarak (formerly Henry Gurney Road).

Formed in 1904, Pulapol was initially located at Bluff Road, later renamed as Bukit Aman Street. In October 1940, the centre moved to its new home at Gurney Road (currently Jalan Semarak), Kuala Lumpur. The centre currently has a mosque, a gurdwara, a Buddhist shrine and a Hindu temple.

Over the decades, hundreds of Sikhs have passed through the centre. They then went on to serve the nation as men and women in blue.

“The Sikhs in the police force have so many stories to tell. It will be an honour to capture the history of the gurdwara and the illustrious accounts of the Sikhs who served the nation in uniform,” said Sri Saheb Production Sdn Bhd founder Baldev Singh.

The local film maker, who has been roped into the team to capture the GSP history, will work on a film documentary. “We are working with all relevant government agencies, including musuems, to put together the Pulapol Sikhs story,” he said.

The #PulapolSikhs history team has begun researching on gurdwara’s history. They are also collecting photos of Sikhs who underwent training at the centre.

If you have old photos of Sikh policemen, especially those related to Pulapol, you can email them to the team.

Email: pulapolsikhs@gmail.com. You can also contact team members: Jaspal Singh 013-3833123 or Mahinder Singh 016-6067751.

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