Sikhs walking in Chinatown, one wearing a baseball cap, the other a patka

Sikhs wearing baseball cap and turban — Sikhs in Chinatown

While walking through Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, I met two men who appeared to be of Indian descent. Even in Chinatown, the people I saw were not all overseas Chinese. There are also Malays and people of Indian descent. I judged them to be of Indian descent because of the turban. The man on the right had his hair covered with a turban (more precisely, a patka) and a beard. He was dressed as a Sikh.

Sikhs account for a very small percentage of the Indian population, roughly 2%. Despite this, there are large numbers of Sikhs living in the former British colonies. The British authorities used Sikhs heavily in their colonies, and many have migrated to areas under British rule. Sikhs are generally said to be hardworking, so they must have been bought for that.

I am sorry to say this to the Sikhs, but to me, not used to seeing them with turbans and beards, they look like pirates in a movie. But they don't look like pirates. They just cover their hair according to their religious beliefs. Sikhs are even exempted from wearing helmets when riding motorcycles.

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