A Community that Nurtures and Inspires: S Pinderpal Singh Madan

A quick Google search will make it certain that S. Pinderpal Singh Madan is widely regarded as one of the most influential voices of the Sikh Community in Thailand. While he has taken on various roles throughout his life, the one he holds dearest is his position as the President of the Siri Guru Singh Sabha Association in Bangkok. This elected role is something he fulfills with a deep sense of devotion and loyalty.

“Some of my earliest memories are tied to the Gurdwara. The first home that I remember living in is about 50 metres from its gates. I grew up here, and the connection I have with the Gurdwara is incredibly strong,” Pinderpal reflects, his eyes gleaming with emotion as he speaks about the congregation that continues to serve as one of the largest distributors of langar — the Sikh tradition of communal meals — in the city and around the world.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role in the Sikh community?

I have been part of the committee since 2009 and in the capacity of a president of the Gurdwara for the past three years. I’ve lived around the Gurdwara all my life, as I was born in the vicinity. The earliest memories of my childhood revolve around this area — the place where I first remembered living in was about 50 metres from the gate of the Gurdwara. Growing up here meant that my attachment to this institution was very strong, and still is.

Could you tell us about the charitable initiatives the Gurdwara is involved in and your plans for future philanthropy?

To begin with, the very basic service to the community is our langar. We have a langar every day from 8 am to about 2 pm. The basic intent is to feed people who are in need. It’s largely viewed as a place where the rich and the poor sit together and share a meal, but it is an activity that is of great relevance to us because we see many people who travel an hour or more to the Gurdwara for the langar, as it is the only meal of their day. We have anywhere from 300 to 500 people come in on a weekday and on the weekend, the numbers go up to 1,000 to 2,000 people. So, the langar that we provide in itself is a very important service to the community. Interestingly, 80 to 90 percent of those who come in every day are not Sikhs.

On a normal day, we come in in the morning, people are already standing in line outside. As soon as we open the gate, they come pouring in. And, we don’t limit the portions. We let them pick and take as much as they want to help themselves. This in my understanding is one of the important things that we do.

Besides this, we run a foundation called Guru Nanak Dev Ji Foundation, which I’m heading at the moment, that does charities that are outside of the Gurdwara. For example, we build buildings for schools that do not have the budget from the government. We recently built our 42nd building. What we plan to do is we want to have at least one such donated building to rural schools that do not have a budget in every province in Thailand and do it in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. What I’ve noticed is the moment we go there and highlight this, the budget starts coming to that school. I’ve seen this being done numerous times. And I believe up to today it’s more than a thousand scholarships that have been given.

What are your earliest memories of growing up in Thailand?

This Gurdwara was also a school and a Gurdwara at one time. In my formal education, I started from the school here, which used to be called Sikh Vidyalaya. Half of this area was a school, and the other half was the Gurdwara. 40 years ago, the whole place was rebuilt into what you see today, and the school campus was moved to Bangna.

The earliest memories of my childhood have been around this Gurdwara. The place that I first remembered residing is about 50 metres from the gate of the Gurdwara. All our activities were around this place. Basically, the Gurmukhi was taught to us by Gyani Arjun Singh on these grounds. We gathered at the Gurdwara every Sunday to listen to Gurbani discourse and Kirtan.

What role does Siri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara play in the community?

We have 13 Gurdwaras besides this one around the country. This is how we stay connected with the local population as well. We do relief programmes for various communities around from time to time. The Gurdwara itself, Siri Guru Singh Sabha Association, in conjunction with the government agencies, is deeply invested in relief programmes. Whenever there’s a flooding or a calamity anywhere, we are the first to send help. Even during the flood in Chiang Mai, we gathered and provided all the necessary essentials, packed them, and sent them to our Gurdwara in Chiang Mai for distribution.

What were some challenges you had to overcome to ensure the successful operation of the Gurdwara that we see today?

I don’t like to use the word challenge. Things are just flowing. Of course, it takes time to convince people to do sewa. That’s one of the things that we are working toward. We are basically open to all. Information is open and so are all activities for people who’d want to come and help. We run it very democratically. The committee has always been elected. The problem that we’re often faced with is not many people really want to be in this position because you have to dedicate a lot of time. You don’t get paid.

No matter where we are in the world, we give back to the community. In Thailand, our numbers are quite small — 100,000 is very small compared
to 70 million. We’re not very visible. We become visible when we give to the country we live in. Our vision is to make that known. We’re supposed to give back to the land that we are in. More so this year, owing to everything that’s happened in the recent past. The community is so small that when one person does something wrong, the whole community is looked at in a negative way. This is the problem with a minority population. And this is something that we hope to work on. To overcome that, not to negate the news, but to overcome the news with positive news by giving back even more than before.

How large is the Sikh community in Thailand, and what keeps it so closely knit?

Gurdwaras were originally not designed to be a place of worship but was rather a place of learning. So, what do you come to learn? You come to learn Gurbani from the Gyanis, through Katha, through Shabads. So, this is learning rather than worship. We have a learning of Sikh faith on the fifth floor for the younger generation to learn while their parents are listening to Shabads Katha on the fourth floor.

I think the arrangement of convening every week is what keeps us close. We’ve never kept a census for decades. “Is it 10,000, 20,000, or 30,000?” people often wondered. We finally got an answer two years ago. We went to meet the House Speaker and asked him for a message on Guru Nanak’s Gurupurab for the Sikh community. The message that he gave us stated that the consensus population of registered Sikhs in Thailand was 103,582 people, as of March 2023. This is only those who have registered themselves as Sikhs. There are people who don’t declare their religion on their ID cards

What is your vision for the community in 2025?

I’d like to say our collective vision in Thailand has always been to keep the community close, relevant, and safe. We are working towards creating a more transparent system so that more people will come into service. There’s one measure of sewa that we talk about is giving 10% of your earnings back to the community that you’re in. It’s not just the money; it’s time as well. This sends a message to the nation about who we actually are and how valuable we are and always will be as a people serving their community.

I’d urge people from our community in positions of privilege to do a bit more service to a nation than before so that people really know what’s in our hearts. This is the way to overcome all the unfortunate incidents that may have happened in the recent past.

As a leader of your community, many turn to you for advice and support. Who do you turn to for support?

It all boils down to our belief in the congregation. Whenever we face a problem, we get together and find a solution. This is our support system. If you go back in history, even Guru Gobind Singh accepted decrees of the Panj Pyaare - the five beloved Sikhs. 15 committee members are consulted and we come to a decision.

What advice would you give to the younger Thai-Indian generation who want to build a legacy like yours?

I do not want to claim having built a legacy. Certainly, I would like to impart some advice that I have gained through 40 odd years of experience. I believe the most important pillar of success is to set a high ethical standard, both in your personal and professional life. With this ethical standard, a good reputation will be formed. With reputation, various opportunities would come your way. Be it clients, suppliers, partners, employers, employees, or financial supporters, then the chances of success are guaranteed. ThisisthemessagethatI’dwanteveryyoung person to understand when he or she ventures out into a life on their own.