Centre for culture Johor Sikh community to have its own club

04 May 2010 , By The Star

The Sikh community in Johor will soon have their own club house in Kulai for their cultural activities.

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said the facility would be similar to the community’s club in Kuala Lumpur known as Kelab Aman, which has been operating for the past 36 years.

“I propose to have this club on a 4ha site in Kulai. There are plans to make the town a centre of attraction by 2012,” he said in his speech during the MIC Johor Baru Vasakhi celebration held at the Foon Yew High school hall here.

He said Kulai, under the Iskandar Malaysia project, would be able to lure local and foreign visitors and this in turn would benefit the club.

“We are planning to build a premium shopping complex spread over 20ha in Kulai.

“Once the infrastructure there is completed, the area will be able to draw up to four million people,” he said, adding that there were 15,000 Sikhs living in the state.

Abdul Ghani also announced that the Johor Government would allocate RM100,000 for Vasakhi celebration in the state.

“This is in line with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia concept where no one is marginalised,” he said.

Meanwhile, MIC Tebrau chairman Manjit Singh said he was grateful to the state but hoped that the community centre would be built nearer to Johor Baru, especially in Skudai and Kempas.

He explained that this was due to the fact that many Sikhs lived around the town area and it would be difficult for them to travel to Kulai.

“I have been requesting for such a centre for six years.

“This centre will be a place for Punjabi lessons and house a multipurpose hall that everybody can utilise,” he said.