Sarabjeet Singh: Connecting people from different ethnic groups

When Mr Sarabjeet Singh was six years old and frolicking in a swimming pool, two Chinese girls asked him where his top was.

"I wore my hair long in keeping with the teachings of Sikhism and they had mistaken me for a girl," Mr Singh, now 35, told The Straits Times.

"If only I had explained myself instead of angrily swimming away," he added, saying the incident was a missed opportunity.

Today, the president of the Young Sikh Association (YSA) heads a YSA initiative called Cultural Community Conversations, which invites non-Sikhs to Sikh temples to help them understand Sikh religion and culture.

In September, Mr Singh and the YSA earned kudos when, instead of lashing out, they invited an Instagram influencer to the Central Sikh Temple after she had posted online that two men with turbans were "obstructions" to her view at the Singapore Grand Prix. The influencer said the visit to the temple helped her better understand other religious practices.

The success of that visit kick-started Cultural Community Conversations.

"I have come to realise that many of these incidents are caused not by malicious intent, but by ignorance. I knew her comments could have been made by any of my former students," said Mr Singh, who used to teach geography and now works at the Education Ministry.

So far, a group from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, some teachers, as well as nearly 400 residents living near the Central Sikh Temple have either attended or set up meetings with the YSA.

"Many of those who live in the area tell me they thought the Central Sikh Temple was a mosque. The (influencer) incident has allowed more people to admit they don't know much about Sikhism and Sikhs," Mr Singh said.

Cultural Community Conversations is structured as informally as possible so people have greater liberty to steer discussions, an open approach much like the YSA's work with Sikh groups in universities. YSA encourages Sikh students to take non-Sikh friends to temples.

Mr Singh, whose wife is Chinese, has also sought to convince others that Sikhs need not be defined primarily by their ethnic or religious traits. In Primary 4, he cut his hair short to fit in, telling his conservative father, who was in Canada on business, his decision in a teary phone conversation.

"My mum would tell naysayers that she would gladly eat soup made by my wife and that my wife enjoys her chapati. What matters are the person's values. As Singaporeans, we have much in common."