Burly temple president and community leader, Gurcharan Singh, was like Chuck Norris to me. Dogs walk away and children quiet down when he stares. The last temple priest ran away. He came to sit with me and chat when I ate.
We talked about the temple’s century old history,
I was nervous when I wanted to tell him that conservation of a heritage building is not about about flattening it and rebuilding from ground up. The truth is he is a gentle giant, He feeds the dog with leftover food but no meat. Meat is not allowed near the temple, he stressed. The kampung is much misunderstood too.
In seeking directions in my search or hunt, many Malay villagers from outside warned me about Kampung Singh’s aversion to outsiders. “Tidak campur” (do not mix), they cautioned me. I started to think they might be like an insular Amish community. In fact, outsiders were insular and ignorant. The inhabitants were warm and friendly when I engaged them.
See previous post Chapati in Kalumpang.
#sikh #punjabi #kampungsingh #gurdwara #sikhtemple #kalumpang #tanjungmalim #dog #chucknorris #vaisakhi
